Can anyone help Billy Bear get his truck out of the deep mud?
No question about it, Billy’s truck is thoroughly mired—“The big wheels turn and spray and churn / in the thick and gloopy muck.” But the rhyme seems to be driving the plot rather than the other way round. Following a comical but random scramble in which a gaggle of eager sheep drives a tractor into the adjacent pond and Clara Cow tumbles down the hill with the farmer’s rake, all the animals get together to “push and pull,” “lug and tug” (pushing is all that’s going on in the art, though) until “the truck’s unstuck!” Despite lots of spattered mud in Truong’s neatly drawn pictures, somehow none of it sticks to either the truck or any of the animals except (sometimes) the pig. Moreover, four leaves feature framed dissolves that transform the cartoon scene when the cover or a large flap is lifted open, but the moving parts are so poorly integrated with the illustrations that odd fragments are left hanging on most of the tabs. As for the storyline, pull out Marie Hall Ets’ classic Elephant in a Well (1972) or any version of “The Great Big Enormous Turnip” for a better telling.
Despite the gimmick, likely to draw no more than flecks of interest from either truck fans or muck fans. (Pop-up picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-68010-001-3
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2015
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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A hug shouldn’t require an instruction manual—but some do.
A porcupine can frighten even the largest animal. In this picture book, a bear and a deer, along with a small rabbit, each run away when they hear eight simple words and their name: “I need a hug. Will you cuddle me,…?” As they flee, each utters a definitive refusal that rhymes with their name. The repetitive structure gives Blabey plenty of opportunities for humor, because every animal responds to the question with an outlandish, pop-eyed expression of panic. But the understated moments are even funnier. Each animal takes a moment to think over the request, and the drawings are nuanced enough that readers can see the creatures react with slowly building anxiety or, sometimes, a glassy stare. These silent reaction shots not only show exquisite comic timing, but they make the rhymes in the text feel pleasingly subtle by delaying the final line in each stanza. The story is a sort of fable about tolerance. It turns out that a porcupine can give a perfectly adequate hug when its quills are flat and relaxed, but no one stays around long enough to find out except for an animal that has its own experiences with intolerance: a snake. It’s an apt, touching moral, but the climax may confuse some readers as they try to figure out the precise mechanics of the embrace.
This is a tremendously moving story, but some people will be moved only on the second reading, after they’ve Googled “How to pet a porcupine.” (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Jan. 29, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-29710-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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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
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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