Funny chapter titles will amuse adults, and subtle visual details make this a fable book that new readers will return to.
The familiar fable about Fox and Crow, retold for new readers.
Youngsters will quickly understand the word “outfoxed” after reading these tales of flattery, greed and cheese, told as three connected short stories. Fox and Crow are enemies, fighting over one hunk of cheese as if it were the last morsel of food on the planet. It won’t take long for readers to giggle at just how far these two will go for the cheese. Fox gets the best of Crow in the first story, in which Fox flatters Crow into dropping the cheese directly into Fox’s mouth. Next, Crow dreams of ways to get the cheese back and spends every waking moment constructing a cunning trap, with stew-covered Crow as the lure. Success! Fox retaliates in the final chapter, but both critters are outsmarted by the watchful Mama Bear. Humorous watercolor illustrations are punctuated by thought bubbles showing the animals' plans; other playful details include the owl’s eyes watching the shenanigans from a safe distance and the eventual sheepish looks when the enemies are trapped in the same net, with Mama Bear chastising them from the side.
Funny chapter titles will amuse adults, and subtle visual details make this a fable book that new readers will return to. (Early reader. 3-7)Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-375-86982-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Bun-dles of fun.
Welcome to Bunnyville, land of a thousand (and no) bunnies!
With the Hoppy Day Parade fast approaching, all is well in Bunnyville—until a lone wolf with a hungry look approaches. Desperate not to become lupine lunch, a particularly plucky bunny devises increasingly zany means of convincing Wolf that there are, in fact, no bunnies to be found anywhere, such as by dressing up as a unicorn, popping a lampshade onto another bunny, and pretending another bunny is a puppy. The mission is consistently complicated by the myriad bunnies who hop, pop, and parade into view. Wolf, amusingly, is a creature of few words and is neither fooled nor deterred. Wolf really, really wants to find a bunny—but not for the reasons anyone, least of all the protagonist bunny, suspects. With each new bunny comes a fresh laugh, bolstered by Burach's delightfully expressive characters and bright, busy page layouts. Sauer's text is sparse but energetic; the lead bunny narrates with all the bumbling charm of an overeager salesperson, the loquaciousness playing hilariously off Wolf's pointed gestures, reproachful eyebrows, and glum charts. As humorous as the story is, it's made ultimately poignant with the age-old message to never judge a book by its cover lest one drive off an unlikely friend. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Bun-dles of fun. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-18135-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
This well-paced journey, with just enough tension to keep young listeners engaged, will be a solid storytime choice....
Having outgrown their pond, a frog family moves out, crossing a field where they meet a scary snake and then a hungry hawk that unwittingly flies them to a perfect home.
Opening with an image of proud parents admiring their numerous tadpoles in a circular pond, the next spread shows the grown froglets, crowding each other beyond the pond’s borders. Mother says, “We’ll have to move,” so off they go, following their father in a long, long line. Kimura captures the impatience of children on a trip ("When will we get there?"). Murakami, an illustrator well-known in Japan, uses just enough detail in his expressive images to make his simple, suggestive shapes and crayon line meaningful. With their extensive white space, these illustrations will show well to a group. When the hawk captures father and the rest of the family holds on, the landscape tilts and the line of young frogs is reduced to a chain of dots, emphasizing the height and distance of their flight. Their splash into a new, large pond is immensely satisfying. (First published in Japan in 2003, this tale may be confused with a book/CD kit that has the same English title but a different narrative arc, published in Australia but also available here.)
This well-paced journey, with just enough tension to keep young listeners engaged, will be a solid storytime choice. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: June 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4013-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
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