A nicely illustrated volume with some lovely poems.
An author/illustrator reflects on popular topics such as animals, nature, and favorite childhood pastimes in this collection of poems and pictures.
This book features 17 poems, each including at least one accompanying illustration. The pieces’ structure and style are quite varied. Some poems are lengthier and span several pages; others are short and leave white space. The poems here are tender and relatable, such as “My Dog, Caesar,” which chronicles a child’s love for a sometimes-naughty pet, and “Cottontail Conundrum,” which contemplates why an animal who is “neither a hen nor a bird” delivers eggs during the Easter holiday. The poem “What Mice Do When It’s Raining” features fun, rhythmic phrasing (“Slippy splashy / Drippy droppy / Crashy flashy”), which children should enjoy sounding out. While the themes of the poems (including playgrounds, home, birthday wishes, picnics, and anthropomorphic wildlife) will likely appeal to young readers, the author frequently uses phrases and vocabulary that may require adult explanation. For example, the titular poem includes the lines “The hare intoned with unmitigated flair” and “I’ll zoom right away to your domicile.” The poem “Earth” asserts that “Earth is ellipsoidal.” Other pieces appear child-friendly yet end oddly. For example, in “Porcupine Quills,” the author ostensibly attempts to introduce counting concepts. The poem starts out with “0 is none / 1 is one / and 2 is double one” but culminates strangely: “Some thirty thousand quills it has! / It’s hard to comprehend a number so ginormous / The porcupine is uncommonly phe-nom-i-nous.” Still, Sutherland’s (Stories in Verses: For the Child You Love, 2016, etc.) soft, washed watercolor illustrations are quite delightful. The pictures here are integral to the poems, often mirroring the text. In “Earth,” the author skillfully fashions an interactive reading experience. The text references the images presented on subsequent pages, creatively engaging her audience: “See the tiger’s picture on the left / See the cheetah’s on the right / The boughs and leaves are up / The ground and grass are down, down.”
A nicely illustrated volume with some lovely poems.Pub Date: July 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-692-89294-7
Page Count: 58
Publisher: BoosterSeat Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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