Karlin (Little Big Mouse, 1991, etc.) sets off words like stones skipping across water in this nimble I Can Read. Wilma the Witch's household equilibrium is disrupted when the fat cat takes up residence on the green mat. ``That is MY mat,'' says the rat. ``So what?'' ``So get off!'' ``No I won't.'' So the rat enlists the help of a bat and a hat and a fish in a dish to dislodge the interloper. Threats are to no avail, nor enticements, nor the broomstick's buzzing antics. Wilma enters, settles the question of property rights by telling the rat, ``My dear little brat, what makes you think this is YOUR mat?'' while the mat gets the last word. With a cat (who's fat), rat, bat, hat, and mat (not to mention the vat where the cat typically dozes) in leading roles, the rhyming scheme is set. Children will love the word dance and the lyric connections, as well as Karlin's feisty cartoon characters. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 30, 1996
ISBN: 0-06-026673-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A gleeful game for budding naturalists.
Artfully cropped animal portraits challenge viewers to guess which end they’re seeing.
In what will be a crowd-pleasing and inevitably raucous guessing game, a series of close-up stock photos invite children to call out one of the titular alternatives. A page turn reveals answers and basic facts about each creature backed up by more of the latter in a closing map and table. Some of the posers, like the tail of an okapi or the nose on a proboscis monkey, are easy enough to guess—but the moist nose on a star-nosed mole really does look like an anus, and the false “eyes” on the hind ends of a Cuyaba dwarf frog and a Promethea moth caterpillar will fool many. Better yet, Lavelle saves a kicker for the finale with a glimpse of a small parasitical pearlfish peeking out of a sea cucumber’s rear so that the answer is actually face and butt. “Animal identification can be tricky!” she concludes, noting that many of the features here function as defenses against attack: “In the animal world, sometimes your butt will save your face and your face just might save your butt!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A gleeful game for budding naturalists. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781728271170
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
“Are you a ladybug? If you are, your parents look like this, and they eat aphids.” So begins a charming little book from the Backyard Books series (Are You a Snail?, not reviewed) that documents the amazing life cycle of the common ladybug. Throughout, Humphries engages the viewer's imagination with clear, close-up illustrations, done in soft watercolors, of beetles from egg to adult. The text invites the listener to be part of the story, growing inside an egg, hatching as a strange larva, resting in the hard, shell-like pupa, and finally emerging complete with wings, spots, and a bright red coat. “Congratulations, you're a ladybug.” With tongue in cheek, the author explains that if your parents look like humans, you are not a ladybug, “You are a human child.” And advises, “Your skin will not split as you grow. You can't fly. It is very unlikely that you are red with black dots.” The author concludes with facts about ladybugs; for example, “a ladybug can eat about 70 aphids a day.” The titles in this series have shiny board covers, glossy paper, a modest price, small size and a great deal of appeal. For reading aloud or reading alone, preschool and early childhood children will find these young information books delightful. (Nonfiction. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7534-5241-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kingfisher
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2000
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