by Phil Gosier ; illustrated by Phil Gosier ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 22, 2019
Hilarious hijinks at the zoo.
There’s trouble at the zoo!
It begins when Bobo the monkey steals the zookeeper’s flashlight. What a neat toy! “Click. Click!” It goes on and off…until it doesn’t. Fifi the koala is certain that Bobo will be in trouble (as is Bobo). After all, Bobo broke the zookeeper’s flashlight. He can’t fix it (poking it with a screwdriver makes it worse), and no one will help him (not even his fellow simians). Will Fifi tell on him? Not if he trumpets her greatness! (He does.) Will readers tell on him? Bobo asks them. On no! Here comes the zookeeper! The kindly zookeeper, a white man, sees that the flashlight just needs new batteries…and pats Bobo on the head. (Readers attuned to the cultural debate surrounding the association of black people with monkeys may well wince at this sight.) Now it’s Fifi who’s in trouble. (At least according to Bobo.) Told entirely in pictures and dialogue callouts (mostly from Fifi and Bobo), the tale is a stitch. The expressive, exaggerated illustrations, often arrayed several vignettes to a page, might as well be a storyboard for an animated short. Neither characters’ eyebrows seem to be anchored to their faces, often soaring well over their foreheads for extra expressiveness. With the right delivery, this will have listeners rolling on the floor.
Hilarious hijinks at the zoo. (Picture book. 2-8)Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-17683-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2018
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by Karma Wilson ; illustrated by Jane Chapman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 16, 2024
Cheery fun that will leave series fans “egg”-static.
In his latest outing, Bear and his pals go in search of eggs.
Bear “lumbers with his friends through the Strawberry Vale.” Raven finds a nest; climbing up, “The bear finds eggs!”: a refrain that appears throughout. Instead of eating the robin’s eggs, however, Bear leaves a gift of dried berries in the nest for the “soon-to-be-chicks.” Next, the friends find 10 mallard eggs (as bright blue as the robin’s), and Bear leaves sunflower seeds. Then the wail of Mama Meadowlark, whose bright yellow undercarriage strikes a warm golden note, leads them to promise to find her lost eggs. With his friends’ assistance, Bear finds one, and they decide to paint them “so they aren’t lost again.” Another is discovered, painted, and placed in Hare’s basket. After hours of persistent searching, Bear suddenly spots the remaining two eggs “in a small patch of clover.” Before they can return these eggs, the chicks hatch and rejoin their mother. Back at his lair, Bear, with his troupe, is visited by all 17 chicks and the robin, mallard, and meadowlark moms: “And the bear finds friends!” Though this sweet spring tale centers on finding and painting eggs, it makes no overt references to Easter. The soft green and blue acrylics, predictable rhymes, and rolling rhythm make this series installment another low-key natural read-aloud.
Cheery fun that will leave series fans “egg”-static. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781665936552
Page Count: 40
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
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by Christopher Silas Neal ; illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 27, 2018
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable.
You think you know shapes? Animals? Blend them together, and you might see them both a little differently!
What a mischievous twist on a concept book! With wordplay and a few groan-inducing puns, Neal creates connections among animals and shapes that are both unexpected and so seemingly obvious that readers might wonder why they didn’t see them all along. Of course, a “lazy turtle” meeting an oval would create the side-splitting combo of a “SLOW-VAL.” A dramatic page turn transforms a deeply saturated, clean-lined green oval by superimposing a head and turtle shell atop, with watery blue ripples completing the illusion. Minimal backgrounds and sketchy, impressionistic detailing keep the focus right on the zany animals. Beginning with simple shapes, the geometric forms become more complicated as the book advances, taking readers from a “soaring bird” that meets a triangle to become a “FLY-ANGLE” to a “sleepy lion” nonagon “YAWN-AGON.” Its companion text, Animal Colors, delves into color theory, this time creating entirely hybrid animals, such as the “GREEN WHION” with maned head and whale’s tail made from a “blue whale and a yellow lion.” It’s a compelling way to visualize color mixing, and like Animal Shapes, it’s got verve. Who doesn’t want to shout out that a yellow kangaroo/green moose blend is a “CHARTREUSE KANGAMOOSE”?
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0534-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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