Not since The Giving Tree has self-sacrifice been so celebrated.
Nut, a mouse, and Bolt, a donkey, enjoy a beautiful friendship. Kind of.
Readers will be forgiven for thinking that it is a very one-sided one, as Nut seems to be doing all the work. She grooms him, brings food (carrots and sugar cubes), entertains him, and otherwise apparently sees to his every whim. De Cock places her line-and-watercolor characters artfully on white space, giving them just a few props to heighten the ludicrousness of the situation. Nut perches at the top of a ladder that’s braced against Bolt’s nose, industriously brushing away at the donkey’s teeth in one picture; in another, tiny Nut strains to hold a shade-granting branch above the slumbering ass. The list of Nut’s duties is occasionally punctuated by a refrain: “real friends would do anything for each other!” After pages of murine selflessness, Nut doesn’t seem to be demonstrating any impatience, but readers will be, and the text senses this: “but what does Bolt do for Nut?” A close-up of the donkey’s ear on a moonlit night finds Nut curled up inside, fast asleep. She looks quite snug, but really, is this friendship? It’s a pity de Cock genders her characters as she does, as the story feels a lot like a 1950s marriage in which the wife goes to extraordinary measures to keep her husband comfortable in exchange for a place to live.
Not since The Giving Tree has self-sacrifice been so celebrated. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-55455-364-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Fitzhenry & Whiteside
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
Animated and educational.
A hare and a ground squirrel banter about the differences between related animals that are often confused for one another.
Jack is “no Flopsy, Mopsy, or Cottontail,” but a “H-A-R-E, hare!” Like sheep and goats, or turtles and tortoises, rabbits and hares may look similar, but hares are bigger, their fur changes color in the winter, and they are born with their eyes wide open. As the ground squirrel (not to be mistaken for a chipmunk (even though Jack cheekily calls it “Chippie”) and Jack engage in playful discussion about animals, a sneaky coyote prowls after them through the Sonoran Desert. This picture book conveys the full narrative in spirited, speech-bubbled dialogue set on expressive illustrations of talking animals. Dark outlines around the characters make their shapes pop against the softly blended colors of the desert backgrounds. Snappy back-and-forth paired with repetition and occasional rhyme enhances the story’s appeal as a read-aloud. As the story progresses, the colors of the sky shift from dawn to dusk, providing subtle, visual bookends for the narrative. One page of backmatter offers a quick guide to eight easily confused pairs, and a second turns a subsequent exploration of the book into a seek-and-find of 15 creatures (and one dessert) hidden in the desert. Unfortunately, while most of the creatures from the seek-and-find appear in poses that match the illustrations in the challenge, not all of them are consistently represented. (This book was reviewed digitally with 7-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 53.3% of actual size.)
Animated and educational. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-358-12506-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Instills a sense of well-being in youngsters while encouraging them to explore the natural world.
This reassuring picture book exemplifies how parents throughout the animal kingdom make homes for their offspring.
The narrative is written from the point of view of a parent talking to their child: “If you were a beaver, I would gnaw on trees with my teeth to build a cozy lodge for us to sleep in during the day.” Text appears in big, easy-to-read type, with the name of the creature in boldface. Additional facts about the animal appear in a smaller font, such as: “Beavers have transparent eyelids to help them see under water.” The gathering of land, air, and water animals includes a raven, a flying squirrel, and a sea lion. “Home” might be a nest, a den, or a burrow. One example, of a blue whale who has homes in the north and south (ocean is implied), will help children stretch the concept into feeling at home in the larger world. Illustrations of the habitats have an inviting luminosity. Mature and baby animals are realistically depicted, although facial features appear to have been somewhat softened, perhaps to appeal to young readers. The book ends with the comforting scene of a human parent and child silhouetted in the welcoming lights of the house they approach: “Wherever you may be, you will always have a home with me.”
Instills a sense of well-being in youngsters while encouraging them to explore the natural world. (Informational picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-63217-224-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little Bigfoot/Sasquatch
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf