Ew! Here’s an enticing critter children won’t soon forget.
A malodorous insect narrates its autobiography.
A brown marmorated (“veined or streaked like marble,” according to the glossary) stink bug describes its summer life cycle and activities in diary form. While the creature celebrates its birth in early June, having hatched from one of 28 eggs laid on the underside of a leaf, others are less than thrilled. This is partly because S. Bug’s more-vile-than-fragrant aroma protects it from being eaten and threatened by neighbors. Text is minimal in this fact-filled, captivating title. Sentences are concise and witty, capturing the voice of this feisty individualist. Readers will learn much about the smelly insect, including facts about its plant-based diet—which, unhappily, makes it a crop-damaging pest—and how it develops, after several larval stages, into a fully grown winged creature. Throughout, pithy, comically negative points of view about the stink bug are expressed as hand-lettered dialogue by other animals and insects. The book ends with S. Bug’s search for a suitable winter home, which it locates in early October and from which it will emerge the following spring. Appealing colorful illustrations depict natural-world details, rendered in vivid colors. White space and light-colored backgrounds allow kids to focus on S. Bug’s activities and habitat. Illustrated facts about stink bugs appear on the endpapers, which are designed so that no text is covered by the flyleaves.
Ew! Here’s an enticing critter children won’t soon forget. (sources, further reading) (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4053-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories.
Kids know vegetables can be scary, but rarely are edible roots out to get someone. In this whimsical mock-horror tale, carrots nearly frighten the whiskers off Jasper Rabbit, an interloper at Crackenhopper Field.
Jasper loves carrots, especially those “free for the taking.” He pulls some in the morning, yanks out a few in the afternoon, and comes again at night to rip out more. Reynolds builds delicious suspense with succinct language that allows understatements to be fully exploited in Brown’s hilarious illustrations. The cartoon pictures, executed in pencil and then digitally colored, are in various shades of gray and serve as a perfectly gloomy backdrop for the vegetables’ eerie orange on each page. “Jasper couldn’t get enough carrots … / … until they started following him.” The plot intensifies as Jasper not only begins to hear the veggies nearby, but also begins to see them everywhere. Initially, young readers will wonder if this is all a product of Jasper’s imagination. Was it a few snarling carrots or just some bathing items peeking out from behind the shower curtain? The ending truly satisfies both readers and the book’s characters alike. And a lesson on greed goes down like honey instead of a forkful of spinach.
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0297-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
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