This Dutch import offers a sweet and funny twist on the bedtime book.
Will the morning never come?
After his customary all-night flight, Owl returns home quite drowsy; in fact, he’s so sleepy that he takes a wrong turn and ends up in an attic instead of his nest. (This is furnished with a tiny grandfather clock and canopy bed in the illustration, which makes it quite clear how he goes wrong). When he wakes up, he's alarmed to find that it's still dark. What's more, "the forest" is full of weird things, like a toy train and an old couch and a humongous grandfather clock. Did the sun forget to wake up? He looks everywhere and finally finds it. (The illustrations show that it’s actually a round mirror in the shape of the sun, with carved rays for a frame.) He tries, without success, to wake it up, pushing “the world” (a globe) over to it and turning the attic light on to help it remember its job. Of course, while all this is happening, time is passing, and as if by magic, the sun finally appears. "Hooray!" It's been a long night. Owl settles into his tree-branch bed for a well-deserved sleep. Enzerink's premise is clever, though the story's end is a bit of a letdown after Owl’s bumbling. The fun is in Rauwerda's painterly illustrations; warm and beautifully composed, they teem with child-friendly details that clue readers in to Owl’s mistake.
This Dutch import offers a sweet and funny twist on the bedtime book. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-935954-43-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Lemniscaat USA
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
Young readers will be “antsy” to join the hero on her satisfying escapade.
An ant explores her world.
Addie Ant’s ready for adventure. Despite some trepidation about leaving the Tomato Bed, where she lives with her aunt, she plucks up her courage and ventures forth across the garden to the far side of the shed. On her journey, she meets her pal Lewis Ladybug, who greets her warmly, points the way, and offers sage advice. When Addie arrives at her destination, she’s welcomed by lovely Beatrix Butterfly and enjoys an “ant-tastic” helping of watermelon. Beatrix also provides Addie with take-home treats and a map for the “Cricket Express,” which will take her straight home. Arriving at the terminal, Addie’s delighted to meet another friend, Cleo Cricket, whose carriage service returns Addie home in “two hops.” After eating a warm tomato soup dinner, Addie falls asleep and dreams of future exploits. Adorable though not terribly original, this story brims with sensuous pleasures, both textual and visual. Kids who declare that they dislike fruits or veggies may find their mouths watering at the mentions and sights of luscious tomatoes, peas, beans, watermelons, berries, and other foodstuffs; insect-averse readers may likewise think differently after encountering these convivial, wide-eyed characters. And those flowers and herbs everywhere! The highlights are the colors that burst from the pages. Addie’s an endearing, empowering character who reassures children they’ll be able to take those first independent steps successfully.
Young readers will be “antsy” to join the hero on her satisfying escapade. (author’s note about ants) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781797228914
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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