They’re back! Those two mischievous chickens from Elinor and Violet: The Story of Two Naughty Chickens (2001) are reunited when Violet comes to visit her grandmother for the summer. Elinor is easily swayed by Violet’s plucky personality and naughty nature: dying her sister’s clothes purple; picking flower heads for flower soup; buying slingshots; using bad words; burping; and frosting cupcakes with shaving cream. But Elinor balks when Violet wants to go swimming without a grown-up. Trusting in her instinct that it’s not a good idea, Elinor amuses herself on the beach while Violet and a new friend go in by themselves. When they come running out of the water screaming that a sea monster is after them, it’s Elinor who “rescues” Violet from the embarrassing situation—and their friendship. The funny cover sets the tone and the gouache illustrations are perfectly puckish and prankish, cleverly conveying the message of standing up to peer pressure. Kids will chuckle over the pranks as these two friends demonstrate resisting the taunt “Don’t be a chicken!” in an entertaining way. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-316-91034-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
Little Caterpillar longs to fly away with friends Ladybird and Bee. Wingless and earthbound, she patiently awaits their eventual reappearance. However, when Ladybird and Bee return from an aerial jaunt one day they discover that their friend is missing. Snail informs them that she is slumbering within a cocoon. Soon, to her friends delight, Caterpillar emerges sporting a pair of glorious yellow wings and asks to be called by her new name, Butterfly. The three are next seen soaring over the garden together. Murphy (I Like It When . . ., 1997) puts the characters for this vivid picture book amid the bright foliage of a bountiful garden. In the full-page illustrations, awash with color and drawn from a bug’s perspective, boldly outlined flowers loom as tall as trees, while leaves provide a verdant canopy for the convivial insects. The oversized format and thick, durable paper allow toddlers the freedom to manipulate the pages on their own, which they will, and frequently. (Picture book. 1-4)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7894-2593-9
Page Count: 20
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This exploration of the fear of the new and different—the strange, as in “stranger”—is so heavily tilted to the gathering worries of the young protagonists that the ultimate meeting with the object of their concern is supremely anticlimactic. Two kittens, Cosy and Posy, are informed by their mother that Giraffe is coming to dinner. Having never met Giraffe, the kittens are at first curious and then increasingly alarmed as they hear from their friends about Giraffe’s oddness, from his long neck and spots to his height. When Giraffe appears, he offers the kittens his neck as a slide and instantly all is right with the world. There is relief, but no sense that the kittens know how baseless their fears were, nor that their trepidations were simply products of their imaginations. Readers may come away with the feeling that the kittens were soothed this time, but that the next time their fears will be just as out of control. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-531-30059-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
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