Like many kids, Meriam doesn’t like to get ready for bed. But is Meriam really like other kids? When her mother tries to comb Meriam’s tangled hair, a shell falls out. Meriam explains she’s been lying in sand at the beach. Then her mother finds a piece of seaweed and Meriam reveals she’s been diving deep, deep, deep beneath the ocean waves to where starfish live, dolphins play and octopuses dance. In fact, Meriam has managed to pluck a pretty pearl from the ocean’s bottom for her mother. As Meriam continues her evening toilette, a little fish jumps out of her ear and a baby crab scuttles from behind her neck. What next? But Meriam is ready for bed, happy that she doesn’t need to clean between her toes. Against an ocean-blue backdrop of floating fish, shells and stars, wondrously whimsical illustrations show the aquatic Meriam with her mass of tangled curls frolicking like a water baby in the sea. And the pictures take the story through to its surprising end. A perfect bedtime “tail.” (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: July 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-439-79610-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Chicken House/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Immigrant author/illustrator Gorbachev knows what it takes to make a big trip, having come to this country years ago and continued his successful children’s-book career. He reprises his Pig and Goat characters from Where Is the Apple Pie? (1999) and One Rainy Day (2001) to explore the happy anticipation versus the anxious apprehension one can experience in planning a trip. Pig blithely selects modes of transportation while Goat furthers his own agenda with reasons why one mode is worse than the other. Take a bike? You could fall off. Drive a car? It could break down. What’s the solution? It amicably brings together the irrepressible force with the irresistible speed bump: “go with a friend.” Gorbachev is up to speed portraying the emotions spent riding each new leg of the journey. Pen, ink, and watercolor capture the imagination and the reality of the intrepid travelers. Just watch out for pirates. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: March 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-399-23965-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2004
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In a winsome debut, Steinbrenner touts the wonders of child’s bedroom. A preschooler leads readers on an imaginative tour of her room, inviting them to explore the landscape of her private world. Steinbrenner focuses on universal details that will resonate with readers of a certain age. Newly independent tots will admire Bess’s catalogue of achievements: her big-girl bed, her bunny clock to learn time-telling, her plethora of books and toys. The linear format of the tale leads Bess, and readers, right into bed—in an appropriately sleepy frame of mind ready for good-night kisses and dreamland. Wolf renders heavily pigmented paintings in a vibrant array of deep evening colors. Her richly textured images provide intriguing details to peruse, incorporating many elements from the text; the cuddly stuffed animals with benevolent smiles offer a serene nighttime salutation to Bess and readers alike. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: April 1, 2004
ISBN: 1-59354-007-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2004
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
