Suzy Goose looks like all the other geese, but she wishes she could be different. “If I was a bat, I could hang upside down and FLAP my wings.” “If I was a penguin, I could slip and SLIDE.” For each creature that she wishes she could be—toucan, giraffe (vertical spread), elephant, ostrich, seal—she mimics its characteristic action or sound. When she ROARHONKS at a cranky lion, he doesn’t like it and chases her. Suzy isn’t totally silly. She uses all of the movement styles of the animals she’s met—running, splashing, sliding—and gets back just in time to the flock—where she’s camouflaged by all the other geese. Attractive mixed-media illustrations, and a well-designed cover, utilize bright colors, textures and size contrasts to energize the spare shapes. A wry twist on the familiar theme of wanting to be different, Suzy isn’t such a silly goose after all, though it would have been nice if the text had used the subjunctive properly. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-7636-3040-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2006
The autumn leaves are swirling all around, so it must be time to gather at Hibernation Station to board the train to sleep. An adorable crew of pajama-clad forest animals make their way to the train, a collection of log cars with variously sized holes and crevices. Large and small, reptile and mammal, true hibernators and “light sleepers” all pile onto the train. But it’s not long before there are problems. Bear’s roommate keeps him awake, groundhog’s hole is too small and so on. The uniformed railroad bears look over the hibernation maps and sort everyone out so that soon the only sound is of snoozing. An author’s note gives more information about hibernation, including the distinction between true hibernators and light sleepers. Cyrus’s pencil-and–digital color illustrations are filled with rich colors and details, albeit anthropomorphized ones. The fundamental problem is that a jam-packed train is a poor model to illustrate this phenomenon. Denise Fleming' s Time to Sleep (1997) still sets the standard. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4169-3788-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2010
Another take on the hoary conflict of how one who is different and dolorous about it comes to accept the beauty of his own special qualities. The ubiquitous struggle for self-acceptance is certainly of sufficient value to mine over and over again, although not in the same way. The uniqueness of this minefield lies in its African veldt setting (Andersen’s ugly duckling as rhino) and the altruistic search for solutions other than growing out of it (the baboon as friend and makeover artist). How it plays out here: Rhino feels self-conscious about his “pointed lumps of wood,” so old-friend Baboon beautifies them first with floral arrangements, next “butterfly gardens,” then fruit centerpieces. Rhino rejects them all, dumping the material on the ground and attracting gnu, gazelle, and others with “curved horns, spiraled horns, tiny wavy elegant horns” who proclaim Rhino lucky in having such big, strong horns. Rhino feels blessed, and Baboon offers reassurance. While the story is an old one, without a really new treatment, it’s the art that attracts. Extreme close-ups of rhino and baboon, lushly drawn flowers, fruit, and accompanying insects and birds, and the silly arrangements wrapped around the horns help to enhance what is still an age-old theme. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: June 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7475-5051-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2001
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