A pretty and pleasing picture book in an unusual tall format, with a piquant story redolent of faraway places. Long ago in a place that has the look of North Africa, a perfume maker lives with his daughter. Girls aren’t supposed to make perfume—the result of an unfortunate historical blunder involving a girl, essence of skunk, and the Royal Advisor—but Yasmin does, and enters the perfume contest for the queen’s birthday. The queen is taken, however, by the “perfume of Forgetfulness,” and forgets who she is. Yasmin brings her back by offering her the scents of memory: the Casablanca lily from her parents’ home; the oils of myrrh and eucalyptus that anointed her when she became queen. The pages are lemon colored; the illustrations, with their echoes of Moorish decoration, are in golden-washed color enlivened by black-and-white sketches, in the manner of medieval drolleries, that reflect and augment the main images. Yasmin gets her wish, that a Royal Storyteller be named so no one would forget ever again, and the position goes to the Royal Advisor, imprisoned for his making of the perfume of Forgetfulness; “the first thing he wrote down was this story.” (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-439-08206-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Levine/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1999
Miranda’s book counts the monsters gathering at a birthday party, while a simple rhyming text keeps the tally and surveys the action: “Seven starved monsters are licking the dishes./Eight blow out candles and make birthday wishes.” The counting proceeds to ten, then by tens to fifty, then gradually returns to one, which makes the monster’s mother, a purple pin-headed octopus, very happy. The book is surprisingly effective due to Powell’s artwork; the color has texture and density, as if it were poured onto the page, but the real attention-getter is the singularity of every monster attendee. They are highly individual and, therefore, eminently countable. As the numbers start crawling upward, it is both fun and a challenge to try to recognize monsters who have appeared in previous pages, or to attempt to stay focused when counting the swirling or bunched creatures. The story has glints of humor, and in combination with the illustrations is a grand addition to the counting shelf. (Picture book. 3-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-201835-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
Baker (Big Fat Hen, 1994, etc.) engages in more number play, posing ducklings in every combination of groups, e.g., “Splashing as they leap and dive/7 ducklings, 2 plus 5.” Using a great array of streaked and dappled papers, Baker creates a series of leafy collage scenes for the noisy, exuberant ducklings to fill, tucking in an occasional ladybug or other small creature for sharp-eyed pre-readers to spot. Children will regretfully wave goodbye as the ducks fly off in neat formation at the end of this brief, painless introduction to several basic math concepts. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-292858-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
© 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.
