Young activists will be inspired and entertained by these three animal-loving friends and their supportive community.
Three kids, many years of planning and an audacious go at public activism add up to one community farm.
Though Gemma, Meera and Karl can’t quite remember when their dream of having a farm of their own began, it seems to have started in kindergarten. When Mrs. Monty led them to the toy corner, they instantly built a farm, complete with plastic cows, chickens and a headless sheep. Playing farm helped build their friendship, kick-started by these city kids’ love of animals and fueled by books about farming and farm life. When Meera’s Auntie Priya hears about an old, unused railroad station with outbuildings and land, they decide it’s perfect for an urban farm. Moving forward at the speed of elementary students with an obsession, these future farmers visit the space, arrange television interviews and bring local adults on board, all the while facing down the property owner, who plans to raze the railroad station to put up a parking lot. Funny situations, especially Karl’s aunt’s online purchase of twin poodles that turn out to be sheep, and such details as various animal footprints racing across the bottom of most pages keep this good-hearted tale moving forward. A tidy ending ensures the farm’s success.
Young activists will be inspired and entertained by these three animal-loving friends and their supportive community. (Chapter book. 6-9)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5831-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
Young readers will clamor to ride along.
Like an ocean-going “Lion and the Mouse,” a humpback whale and a snail “with an itchy foot” help each other out in this cheery travelogue.
Responding to a plaintive “Ride wanted around the world,” scrawled in slime on a coastal rock, whale picks up snail, then sails off to visit waters tropical and polar, stormy and serene before inadvertently beaching himself. Off hustles the snail, to spur a nearby community to action with another slimy message: “SAVE THE WHALE.” Donaldson’s rhyme, though not cumulative, sounds like “The house that Jack built”—“This is the tide coming into the bay, / And these are the villagers shouting, ‘HOORAY!’ / As the whale and the snail travel safely away. . . .” Looking in turn hopeful, delighted, anxious, awed, and determined, Scheffler’s snail, though tiny next to her gargantuan companion, steals the show in each picturesque seascape—and upon returning home, provides so enticing an account of her adventures that her fellow mollusks all climb on board the whale’s tail for a repeat voyage.
Young readers will clamor to ride along. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: March 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-8037-2922-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2004
A story of friendship that is both lively and lovely
Two friends embark upon a high-seas adventure.
Kondo, a large lemon-colored creature with wide round eyes, spends his day on his island home with his best friend, tangerine-hued Kezumi. Together, they frolic on their idyllic isle picking berries (tall Kondo nabs the higher fruit while Kezumi helps to retrieve the lower) while surrounded by tiny “flitter-birds” and round “fluffle-bunnies.” One day, Kezumi finds a map in a bottle that declares “WE ARE NOT ALONE.” Inspired by visions of a larger world, Kondo and Kezumi fashion a boat from a bathtub and set sail. The pair visits fantastical islands—deliciously cheese-laden Dairy Isle, the fiery and fearsome Fireskull Island—until they eventually settle upon the titular Giant Island, where they meet Albert, a gigantic gray talking mountain who is—obviously—unable to leave. Enthralled by his new friends, Albert wants them to stay forever. After Albert makes a fraught decision, Kondo and Kezumi find themselves at a crossroads and must confront their new friend. Goodner and Tsurumi’s brightly illustrated chapter book should find favor with fans of Kate DiCamillo and Chris Van Dusen’s similarly designed Mercy Watson series. Short, wry, descriptive sentences make for an equally enjoyable experience whether read aloud or independently. Episodic chapters move the action along jauntily; the conclusion is somewhat abrupt, but it promises more exploration and adventures for the best friends. (This review was originally published in the June 1, 2019, issue. The book data has been updated to reflect changes in publisher and date of publication.)
A story of friendship that is both lively and lovely (Fantasy. 6-8)Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-368-02577-5
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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