A whimsical take on a garden’s busy, interconnected ecosystem.
An uninvited seed falls and roots in a garden, inconveniencing dwellers both above- and underground.
Its roots advance, breaking through mole Yvonne’s bathroom ceiling, disrupting Susie Field Mouse’s birthday party, and complicating the ants’ tunneling. After Yvonne’s fruitless repairs and the mouse family’s second ruined house, the community calls an emergency meeting and decides to cut down the plant. As Mr. Field Mouse prepares to bite the stem, Jack, a green-clad, mouse-sized humanoid, intervenes. “Is this plant so terrible?” After all, it’s provided shade for Mr. Gnome’s house. Perhaps the mice children could play in its branches, from which the ants could spy new tunnel routes. “And don’t forget its fruit!” The interloper, indeed, is a tomato plant: A new plan emerges. Canadian Dubuc’s pictures, rendered in flat color and simple line, depict the underground homes as cozy, comfortably furnished rooms. The matter-of-fact text, translated from French, notes that the residents grow appreciative of the tomato plant’s “many merits, and were quite content once again.” Jack, Mr. Gnome, and the ants are white-faced. Cross-section visuals depict the ants’ expanded tunnel network, the tomato’s extensive root system, and Yvonne sharing her home with the mice. Small details—a clothesline with Mr. Gnome’s polka-dot underwear; items such as a key and a diamond suspended underground—provide additional fun.
A whimsical take on a garden’s busy, interconnected ecosystem. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0207-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
A disappointing follow-up.
Inventor Izzy Gizmo is back in this sequel to her eponymous debut (2017).
While busily inventing one day, Izzy receives an invitation from the Genius Guild to their annual convention. Though Izzy’s “inventions…don’t always work,” Grandpa (apparently her sole caregiver) encourages her to go. The next day they undertake a long journey “over fields, hills, and waves” and “mile after mile” to isolated Technoff Isle. There, Izzy finds she must compete against four other kids to create the most impressive machine. The colorful, detail-rich illustrations chronicle how poor Izzy is thwarted at every turn by Abi von Lavish, a Veruca Salt–esque character who takes all the supplies for herself. But when Abi abandons her project, Izzy salvages the pieces and decides to take Grandpa’s advice to create a machine that “can really be put to good use.” A frustrated Izzy’s impatience with a friend almost foils her chance at the prize, but all’s well that ends well. There’s much to like: Brown-skinned inventor girl Izzy is an appealing character, it’s great to see a nurturing brown-skinned male caregiver, the idea of an “Invention Convention” is fun, and a sustainable-energy invention is laudable. However, these elements don’t make up for rhymes that often feel forced and a lackluster story.
A disappointing follow-up. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68263-164-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
A sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends.
Is it a stormy-night scare or a bedtime book? Both!
Little Blue Truck and his good friend Toad are heading home when a storm lets loose. Before long, their familiar, now very nervous barnyard friends (Goat, Hen, Goose, Cow, Duck, and Pig) squeeze into the garage. Blue explains that “clouds bump and tumble in the sky, / but here inside we’re warm and dry, / and all the thirsty plants below / will get a drink to help them grow!” The friends begin to relax. “Duck said, loud as he could quack it, / ‘THUNDER’S JUST A NOISY RACKET!’ ” In the quiet after the storm, the barnyard friends are sleepy, but the garage is not their home. “ ‘Beep!’ said Blue. ‘Just hop inside. / All aboard for the bedtime ride!’ ” Young readers will settle down for their own bedtimes as Blue and Toad drop each friend at home and bid them a good night before returning to the garage and their own beds. “Blue gave one small sleepy ‘Beep.’ / Then Little Blue Truck fell fast asleep.” Joseph’s rich nighttime-blue illustrations (done “in the style of [series co-creator] Jill McElmurry”) highlight the power of the storm and capture the still serenity that follows. Little Blue Truck has been chugging along since 2008, but there seems to be plenty of gas left in the tank.
A sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-328-85213-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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