Humpty Dumpty ($12.99; Oct. 1996; 10 pp.; 0-525-67540-X): Here's one version of this verse where the egg hero doesn't end up scrambled! Bold, three-dimensional pop-ups are big, clear, and solidly engineered, to survive a fair amount of toddler use and abuse. The familiar story and the paper mechanics flow easily, so that children who know the lines by heart will find themselves ``reading'' and turning pages at exactly the right moment. While there's a scant number of pages, all are loaded with details: castle turrets, toys, soldiers, royalty, and the beaming eggman himself. Readers will linger over each tableau on the page as if it were a landscape. (Pop-up. 2-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-525-67540-X
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Oliver, an owl, stays up past his bedtime at the end of one night and sees something he has never seen before—the sun. Oliver wants to tell someone about it, but all his friends—the ``spiky hedgehogs'' and the ``stripy badgers''—are asleep. None of the animals who are awake—awake as usual—are the least bit interested. Feeling ever-so-lonely, Oliver finally falls asleep. When his friends wake him up in the middle of the night, he is compensated for all his earlier disappointments, for they are duly impressed when they hear about the sun. Hendra's simple text has flair: The adjectives conjure up funny images, while the story gives readers plenty to think about, without ever using the words nocturnal and diurnal. Gouache illustrations look much like linoleum prints—blocks of bright colors, mainly blue and ocher— and the chubby animals, with their bulging white eyes, are undeniably friendly territory. (Picture book. 2-4)
Pub Date: July 1, 1996
ISBN: 1-56402-932-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1996
When Max, who looks about two, sees a tractor drive by his window, he is mesmerized. Soon Sara, a young teenager, sees Max sitting by the window and invites him for a walk in the fields. First they see chickens and cows, then they see boys fishing, and finally they see the great red tractor. Very little of this story is spelled out; it is left to readers to quietly determine the ages of the two friends from the way they kneel, walk, or use language: `` `Go out,' said Max, racing to find his shoes and coat and hat.'' Lewis's colored pencil illustrations of rustic summer scenes have been drawn with infinite care; Max and Sara look almost uncannily realistic in their pastoral wanderings. A book with a drop of humor and a spoonful of wistfulness. (Picture book. 2-4)
Pub Date: July 1, 1996
ISBN: 1-56402-883-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1996
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