Harry is sharp, but easily distracted. So when it’s time for his teacher to assign parts in the class’s spring play, Harry is a natural for Funny Bunny. But after a classmate complains that Harry will spoil the play and Harry follows that complaint up by making his bunny ears incorrectly, he decides to focus. He learns everyone’s lines in the play and is able to come to the rescue when George, the complainer, freezes at the opening performance. Poydar’s (Rhyme Time Valentine, 2002, etc.) illustrations are brilliantly colored and detailed, showing the children’s rosy cheeks, their often garishly busy clothing, and the various items that fill (or is that clutter?) a typical elementary-school classroom. Harry’s classmates’ irritation at his boisterousness is believable and humorously illustrated; his desire to prove himself, realistic. The story is relatively slight, to be sure, but also reassuringly comfortable in its setting and tone and sharply attuned in its depiction of Harry’s short attention span. Teachers and librarians looking for a new story for spring will be pleased to find this one on the shelf. The final page provides the directions for making “correct” bunny ears and the challenge to try to make Harry’s incorrect pair. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: April 15, 2003
ISBN: 0-8234-1771-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2003
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
Sloat collaborates with Huffman, a Yu’pik storyteller, to infuse a traditional “origins” tale with the joy of creating. Hearing the old women of her village grumble that they have only tasteless crowberries for the fall feast’s akutaq—described as “Eskimo ice cream,” though the recipe at the end includes mixing in shredded fish and lard—young Anana carefully fashions three dolls, then sings and dances them to life. Away they bound, to cover the hills with cranberries, blueberries, and salmonberries. Sloat dresses her smiling figures in mixes of furs and brightly patterned garb, and sends them tumbling exuberantly through grassy tundra scenes as wildlife large and small gathers to look on. Despite obtrusively inserted pronunciations for Yu’pik words in the text, young readers will be captivated by the action, and by Anana’s infectious delight. (Picture book/folktale. 6-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-88240-575-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2004
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