by Marni McGee ; illustrated by Sean Julian ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 10, 2015
Patch and his new bear friend would be right at home with Karma Wilson’s Bear.
A hare whose heart is in the right place helps a grouchy bear solve his problem and makes a new friend in the process.
Patch the Hare is one of those friends who’s underappreciated. He’s clumsy, getting in the way of his friends’ preparations for winter (the text says it’s winter, though some of the animals are making berry jam), and despite his buddies’ warnings, he can’t be scared of the big, grumpy bear—he is empathetic to a fault. While Mouse, Squirrel, and Fox hide and wonder what the bear might do to them, Patch decides to feed him, thinking that might solve the bear’s grumblings. But klutziness, a scooter, and a huge stack of blueberry-and-onion sandwiches don’t go together very well. Luckily, hunger isn’t the bear’s problem—Patch discovers he’s cold. The hare’s solution suits his name, though it doesn’t at first meet the approval of his friends…until they learn to empathize with the bear and see how touched he is by their generosity. Julian’s illustrations, which appear to be watercolor, are adorable, his animals sporting clothing and acting like people. The bright, rich colors will keep readers’ attention, and the final spread couldn’t get much cozier, especially when shared on a cold winter day, snuggled in pajamas under a warm blanket, and surrounded by loved ones.
Patch and his new bear friend would be right at home with Karma Wilson’s Bear. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-58925-189-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
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by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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by Karma Wilson ; illustrated by Jane Chapman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 16, 2024
Cheery fun that will leave series fans “egg”-static.
In his latest outing, Bear and his pals go in search of eggs.
Bear “lumbers with his friends through the Strawberry Vale.” Raven finds a nest; climbing up, “The bear finds eggs!”: a refrain that appears throughout. Instead of eating the robin’s eggs, however, Bear leaves a gift of dried berries in the nest for the “soon-to-be-chicks.” Next, the friends find 10 mallard eggs (as bright blue as the robin’s), and Bear leaves sunflower seeds. Then the wail of Mama Meadowlark, whose bright yellow undercarriage strikes a warm golden note, leads them to promise to find her lost eggs. With his friends’ assistance, Bear finds one, and they decide to paint them “so they aren’t lost again.” Another is discovered, painted, and placed in Hare’s basket. After hours of persistent searching, Bear suddenly spots the remaining two eggs “in a small patch of clover.” Before they can return these eggs, the chicks hatch and rejoin their mother. Back at his lair, Bear, with his troupe, is visited by all 17 chicks and the robin, mallard, and meadowlark moms: “And the bear finds friends!” Though this sweet spring tale centers on finding and painting eggs, it makes no overt references to Easter. The soft green and blue acrylics, predictable rhymes, and rolling rhythm make this series installment another low-key natural read-aloud.
Cheery fun that will leave series fans “egg”-static. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781665936552
Page Count: 40
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
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