Food for thought for monolingual mouselings—not to mention their parents and teachers.
A little mouse’s foreign-language skills save his family from a cat in this mother-daughter debut.
Reworking a Cuban folk tale (available in another version by Antonio Sacre and Alfredo Aguirre as The Barking Mouse, 2003), the authors introduce opera-loving mouse Mrs. Canta and her large family. Mrs. Canta speaks Cricket, Spider and Moth, as well as several human languages, so when the youngest, Chico Canta, echoes her “Dulces sueños, sweet dreams,” she exclaims “Bilingual” in approval. But Chico speaks more than just two languages, as he proves when a family production of Three Little Pigs is nearly spoiled by Little Gato-Gato and he leads the audience in a loud chorus of “Bow-wow! Bow-wow! Bow-wow!” that averts the threat. Everyone cheers: “Bilingual!” (Mora explains in an afterword that the term was chosen to “move the story along” and invites adult readers to introduce a more accurate one when appropriate). Seeing the head of the Big Bad Wolf costume hanging from a nail like a trophy in one scene may give viewers a brief turn, but in general, Carling’s illustrations capture the well-told story’s sweetly spirited tone, with views of tiny mice in colorful costume scampering about and away from a much larger but obviously young ginger kitten.
Food for thought for monolingual mouselings—not to mention their parents and teachers. (afterword) (Picture book/folk tale. 5-8)Pub Date: April 15, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-55498-343-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: Feb. 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2014
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader!
Fun with friends makes for a great day.
Norbit, a salmon-colored worm with a pink kerchief, joyfully greets the day and everyone he encounters. “Hello, friends! It’s time for fun with the sun! Let’s play!” He and his menagerie of forest pals—including the sun, who grows limbs and descends from the sky—exuberantly engage in various forms of physical activity such as jumping, going down a slide, spinning around, and watching the clouds go by. Young readers will readily relate, as these are games that most children are familiar with. As day turns to night, Norbit says farewell to Sun and welcomes Moon with an invitation to continue the fun. Watkins has created a vivid world of movement and merriment. Her illustrations feature bright bursts of color that match the energy of the text, with most sentences ending in an exclamation point. The author/illustrator incorporates many elements that make for an ideal early-reading experience (despite the use of a contraction or two): art free from clutter, text consisting of words with only one or two syllables, and repetition and recurring bits, such as a continued game of hide-and-seek with Sun. Inspired by never-before-seen sketches from the Dr. Seuss Collection archives at the University of California San Diego, this is the first title for Seuss Studios, a new imprint for original stories from “emerging authors and illustrators” who “honor Seuss’s hallmark spirit of creativity and imagination.”
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader! (author's note) (Early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780593646212
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Seuss Studios
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor
Having surveyed worms, spiders, flies, and head lice, Gravel continues her Disgusting Critters series with a quick hop through toad fact and fancy.
The facts are briefly presented in a hand-lettered–style typeface frequently interrupted by visually emphatic interjections (“TOXIN,” “PREY,” “EWWW!”). These are, as usual, paired to simply drawn cartoons with comments and punch lines in dialogue balloons. After casting glances at the common South American ancestor of frogs and toads, and at such exotic species as the Emei mustache toad (“Hey ladies!”), Gravel focuses on the common toad, Bufo bufo. Using feminine pronouns throughout, she describes diet and egg-laying, defense mechanisms, “warts,” development from tadpole to adult, and of course how toads shed and eat their skins. Noting that global warming and habitat destruction have rendered some species endangered or extinct, she closes with a plea and, harking back to those South American origins, an image of an outsized toad, arm in arm with a dark-skinned lad (in a track suit), waving goodbye: “Hasta la vista!”
A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor . (Informational picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: July 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-77049-667-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016
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