With such creative illustrations beckoning to readers, children may muster up their decoding skills to get through the...
Nat the rat, Pat the rat, and Matt the rat try to steal the jam that Gram is making for Ann, Fran, and Stan.
In a nutshell, that is the plot of this phonics book for emergent readers, one of a new series, Bright Owl Books. The short “a” sound is the focus, but the appeal is in the original photo illustrations that will grab children’s interest even if the words and bare story don’t. Stuffed white mice and gray rats are dressed and posed in fascinating environments filled with old toys, baskets, textured fabrics, and painted antique containers. These photos look like stills from a stop-action animated film that should have been produced with a more exciting storyline. A skirt, apron, and shawl in three different vintage prints adorn Gram’s small figure, tiny spectacles perched on her pink stitched nose, in just one of the lovingly made costumes for the toy creatures. While most of the dialogue-driven text supports the repetition of the short “a” sound (“I am a bandit, ma'am. Hand over the jam”), some of the vocabulary is more advanced and occasionally inconsistent in its reinforcement of its chosen sound. Publishing simultaneously are Cubs in a Tub, Hop, Frog!, Princess Pig, and Wet Hen.
With such creative illustrations beckoning to readers, children may muster up their decoding skills to get through the purposeful text, perhaps with a little help from an adult. (Early reader. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-57565-973-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Kane Press
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Too many bugs, figuratively.
Lucy, “the youngest member of a family of fireflies,” must overcome an irrational, moon-induced anxiety in order to leave her family tree trunk and glow.
The first six pages pull readers into a lush, beautiful world of nighttime: “When the sun has set, silence falls over the Big Forest, and all of the nighttime animals wake up.” Mixed media provide an enchanting forest background, with stylized flora and fauna eventually illuminated by a large, benign moon, because the night “doesn’t like to catch them by surprise.” Turning the page catches readers by surprise, though: the family of fireflies is decidedly comical and silly-looking. Similarly, the text moves from a lulling, magical cadence to a distinct shift in mood as the bugs ready themselves for their foray into the night: “They wave their bottoms in the air, wiggle their feelers, take a deep, deep breath, and sing, ‘Here we go, it’s time to glow!’ ” It’s an acceptable change, but more unevenness follows. Lucy’s excitement about finally joining the other bugs turns to “sobbing” two nights in a row. Instead of directly linking her behavior to understandable reactions of children to newness, the text undermines itself by making Lucy’s parents’ sweet reassurances impotent and using the grandmother’s scientific explanation of moonlight as an unnecessary metaphor. Further detracting from the story, the text becomes ever denser and more complex over the book’s short span.
Too many bugs, figuratively. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-84-16147-00-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cuento de Luz
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2015
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