Adams’ vocabulary is just right for lap reading, and the happy ending to the silly mistake—and Tansy’s subsequent bedtime...
A wide-awake sheep echoes the story of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” in this humorous British import from debut author Adams and veteran illustrator Wills (Annie’s Grannies in Decorating Disaster, 2017, etc.).
Tansy lamb can’t get to sleep. She asks her mum if it’s time to get up—but, of course, it’s not even close. Tansy asks first her mother, then her sister, Teasel, for sleeping advice, but nothing works. Finally, the barn owl tells Tansy she should count sheep, so Tansy does, but she finds only 19 sheep in her flock instead of the 20 that should be there. After a charming interlude of worried imaginings worthy of Frog and Toad or Elephant and Piggie, she wakes everyone to find the missing sheep. The sheep are in a tizzy until the sheepdog arrives to reveal that Tansy forgot to count herself. Now all the sheep are wide-awake—except Tansy, who finally falls asleep. Wills’ sheep are wonderfully fluffy, and the green moors and blue sky are cozy for bedtime storytelling. Tansy’s expressions, and her endearing attempts at falling asleep, will resonate with young readers who have had the problem themselves. Elementary readers are likely to realize Tansy’s mistake before the sheepdog and chuckle at being right.
Adams’ vocabulary is just right for lap reading, and the happy ending to the silly mistake—and Tansy’s subsequent bedtime success—will make this a nighttime favorite.Pub Date: April 27, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9930794-7-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Full Media Ltd
Review Posted Online: Oct. 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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