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A RUNTAMUFFIN TALE

Name: A RUNTAMUFFIN TALE
Author: Melissa Taylor
ISBN: 978-0-9989887-0-2

by Melissa Taylor ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

A pleasant, if slight, look at chickens and their friends.

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As a flock of chickens grows up on a farm, they get to know the other animals and welcome a new puppy in this illustrated children’s book.

For his birthday, a Caucasian farm worker named Lasse is given 14 chicks, a coop, and supplies by the “barn girls” to raise hens that will lay eggs. Each chick gets a name, such as “Scrambled” or “Benedict”; the smallest gets the special moniker “Runtamuffin,” or “Runti” for short. The chicks grow fast, protected in their spacious, safe coop. When they’re old enough, they’re allowed to run around the property, with Bodo, a Hungarian Visla dog, to watch over them. The canine enjoys tagging along as the hens investigate all the exciting things on a farm. Although they’re a little scared of the big horses, they soon discover which ones are friendly. One big, beautiful horse, Mariett, gets special attention from people on the farm, so Runti makes her acquaintance. Mariett has great stories of flying to Europe, being shown in a ring, and winning ribbons, which makes a nice change from the usual henhouse bickering. When a new puppy, Loui, arrives, Runti and the girls are unsure about him, especially after he chases them, but Bodo and Lasse soon explain the rules. Whatever their temporary differences, the farm is a little family where everyone has fun. In her debut, Taylor provides warm scenarios of friendship, growing trust, and simple pleasures, such as splashing in puddles. However, she could have done more to set the scene—where is this farm, for example? Where do “barn girls” come from, what’s their job, and why aren’t there barn boys? Beauregard’s illustrations help, with palm trees and Spanish-tiled roofs that suggest Florida or California; the drawings intriguingly mix realistic draftsmanship with loosely sketched elements and the hens’ exaggerated expressions. The episodic format gives little shape to the narrative, and Runti, despite being the protagonist, doesn’t really have much to do, aside from reacting to other characters. Mariett and the dogs have more personality, making it unclear why the book isn’t centered on them.

A pleasant, if slight, look at chickens and their friends.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: 978-0-9989887-0-2

Page Count: 57

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: Sept. 2, 2017

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S SPRINGTIME

From the Little Blue Truck series

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 2, 2018

Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come.

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Little Blue Truck and his pal Toad meet friends old and new on a springtime drive through the country.

This lift-the-flap, interactive entry in the popular Little Blue Truck series lacks the narrative strength and valuable life lessons of the original Little Blue Truck (2008) and its sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (2009). Both of those books, published for preschoolers rather than toddlers, featured rich storylines, dramatic, kinetic illustrations, and simple but valuable life lessons—the folly of taking oneself too seriously, the importance of friends, and the virtue of taking turns, for example. At about half the length and with half as much text as the aforementioned titles, this volume is a much quicker read. Less a story than a vernal celebration, the book depicts a bucolic drive through farmland and encounters with various animals and their young along the way. Beautifully rendered two-page tableaux teem with butterflies, blossoms, and vibrant pastel, springtime colors. Little Blue greets a sheep standing in the door of a barn: “Yoo-hoo, Sheep! / Beep-beep! / What’s new?” Folding back the durable, card-stock flap reveals the barn’s interior and an adorable set of twin lambs. Encounters with a duck and nine ducklings, a cow with a calf, a pig with 10 (!) piglets, a family of bunnies, and a chicken with a freshly hatched chick provide ample opportunity for counting and vocabulary work.

Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come. (Board book. 1-4)