A spot of exquisite rest in an overstimulated world.
Evocative details make this simple story a quiet delight.
Two peas “pop out” of their pods to “get some air” and end up having a little adventure in the garden. Fleeing from would-be predators, they find a safe place under the ground to hide. Of course, being peas, they end up sprouting into pea plants that create new peas, one of which sets out at the end of the story on its own adventure, thereby continuing the circle of nature. Rivoal’s soft black-and-white etchings (the only color is the green of the peas) render a dreamlike, stylized depiction of vegetation that harkens back to the jungle paintings of fellow French artist Henri Rousseau. This book can only be fully appreciated by lingering on each spread, and the minimal text encourages such close looking. Flora and fauna are detailed with loving care and humor—a carrot with glasses, an expressive turnip and a cat hidden until the mischievous peas point it out are all waiting to be discovered by readers. Depictions of treasures lost (a ring, a key and a toy truck, among others) in the soil enhance the story’s theme of the mystery and magic of the world and the wonder of seeing it through new eyes.
A spot of exquisite rest in an overstimulated world. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-59270-155-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
Soft-focus illustrations in acrylic and colored pencil introduce Little Bunny as he and his young animal friends play at night in the forest. Little Bunny learns that the dark is not something scary but instead presents opportunities to dig in the dirt with Freddie the fox and play in the moonlight with a family of dormice. A friendly owl named Olive reminds Little Bunny that it isn’t really safe for little rabbits to be out alone at night, and she leads him back to his burrow, where his parents are waiting for him. The plodding story is rather old-fashioned and definitely of the forest-fairy-tale subgenre, as predator and prey play together as friends, and the owl warns the bunny and leads him home rather than having him for dinner. The book’s raison d'être is its changing-picture format, used for the cover illustration and for three spreads inside. The circular changing-picture inserts cleverly shift to a new picture by lifting a tree-shaped insert at the right-hand side of the page. Toddlers and younger preschoolers will be fascinated by this quick-change effect within the page, as the bunny and the squirrel transform into a fox, or the bunny and his mother change into the rabbit family asleep in their cozy burrow. Sweet but far from essential. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5263-0
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Templar/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Feb. 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A young boy discovers all the growing things around him as he walks by the woods, through a meadow, and by a peaceful pond. Beautiful watercolor-and-ink paintings illustrate this "what will it become" story of how things change and develop into other things. Brightly colored and simple enough for very young children, this explains how caterpillars change into butterflies; eggs change into robins; and tiny black polliwogs change into frogs. The first illustration of each pair of growing things is depicted as a small drawing followed by a full-page rendering of the thing that it is to become. One particularly nice feature is a double-page illustration of the giant oak tree, which grows from a tiny acorn. This journey of exploration finishes with the young boy's exclamation that his baby brother will "One day . . . be a big boy—just like me." Rockwell's latest foray into the natural world will be a treat for young children as they notice themselves and the things around them growing and changing. Sure to be a bedtime favorite as well as a successful introductory science lesson. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-15-202202-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Silver Whistle/Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2001
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