A sweetly told animal story of loss, danger, and reunion.
An adopted ferret settles into his new home but misses his buddy in this debut picture book.
Chubby and Coco are ferrets and best friends, spending their time playing together. But one day, Coco vanishes. Chubby doesn’t understand why and misses her terribly. Chubby’s owner, Mark, no longer has time to care for him and asks his brother, Jeffrey, to adopt him, which he’s glad to do. The young man sets up everything a ferret needs, and soon Chubby is eating (of course), playing, going for walks, and snuggling with Jeffrey. But he still misses Coco. One day, Chubby slips out of the apartment and tries looking for his old friend, but he’s scared by bullying geese in a nearby park. Jeffrey rescues and reassures Chubby. When he goes on vacation, Jeffrey leaves Chubby with his father, John—who, it turns out, has been taking care of Coco. The ferrets are overjoyed to see each other again, and when Jeffrey returns, both animals come home with him, happily reunited. Abrams includes photographs of the actual ferrets that inspired this work, which give a good sense of their personalities, as with Chubby’s horrified expression when surrounded by geese. The book subtly teaches children about responsible pet ownership, which includes relocating furry friends when necessary, searching immediately for lost animals, and trying to keep bonded pairs together. Children might better relate to younger human protagonists, but that’s a quibble.
A sweetly told animal story of loss, danger, and reunion.Pub Date: July 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4120-7294-6
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Trafford
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
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
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come.
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)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-544-93809-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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