by Phyllis Root & illustrated by Russell Ayto ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 1996
Everything in Mrs. Potter's house is cleaned to a fare-thee- well except her messy little baby, Ermajean. Ermajean drools and gurgles and plasters herself with applesauce, and ``any speck of dirt in the yard clung to Ermajean like bees to clover.'' Ermajean is so dirty her mother worries she'll turn into a pig. When she finds a little porker in Ermajean's stroller she thinks the worst has happened, until she discovers Ermajean happily splashing it up in the pigpen, ready to introduce her mother to the joys of mud. Root (see review, above) has written a very funny story of mistaken identity. Readers see Ermajean and the piglet switch places while Mrs. Potter dusts the picket fence. Ayto's loose line and watercolor illustrations are a perfect complement for the rollicking text, imbuing every character with lots of personality. The scenes of Mrs. Potter in the mud are priceless, and the piglet is particularly endearing. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: June 1, 1996
ISBN: 1-56402-924-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1996
Share your opinion of this book
More by Phyllis Root
BOOK REVIEW
by Phyllis Root & Gary D. Schmidt ; illustrated by Melissa Sweet
BOOK REVIEW
by Liza Ketchum & Jacqueline Briggs Martin & Phyllis Root ; illustrated by Claudia McGehee
BOOK REVIEW
by Phyllis Root ; illustrated by Betsy Bowen
by Mallory Loehr & illustrated by Pamela Silin-Palmer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 24, 2006
The can’t-miss subject of this Step into Reading series entry—a unicorn with a magic horn who also longs for wings—trumps its text, which is dry even by easy-reader standards. A boy unicorn, whose horn has healing powers, reveals his wish to a butterfly in a castle garden, a bluebird in the forest and a snowy white swan in a pond. Falling asleep at the edge of the sea, the unicorn is visited by a winged white mare. He heals her broken wing and she flies away. After sadly invoking his wish once more, he sees his reflection: “He had big white wings!” He flies off after the mare, because he “wanted to say, ‘Thank you.’ ” Perfectly suiting this confection, Silin-Palmer’s pictures teem with the mass market–fueled iconography of what little girls are (ostensibly) made of: rainbows, flowers, twinkly stars and, of course, manes down to there. (Easy reader. 4-7)
Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2006
ISBN: 0-375-83117-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2006
Share your opinion of this book
More by Mallory Loehr
BOOK REVIEW
by Mallory Loehr & illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton
by Peter Stein ; illustrated by Bob Staake ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 10, 2013
Clever verse coupled with bold primary-colored images is sure to attract and hone the attention of fun-seeking children...
A fizzy yet revealing romp through the toy world.
Though of standard picture-book size, Stein and illustrator Staake’s latest collaboration (Bugs Galore, 2012, etc.) presents a sweeping compendium of diversions for the young. From fairies and gnomes, race cars and jacks, tin cans and socks, to pots ’n’ pans and a cardboard box, Stein combs the toy kingdom for equally thrilling sources of fun. These light, tightly rhymed quatrains focus nicely on the functions characterizing various objects, such as “Floaty, bubbly, / while-you-wash toys” or “Sharing-secrets- / with-tin-cans toys,” rather than flatly stating their names. Such ambiguity at once offers Staake free artistic rein to depict copious items capable of performing those tasks and provides pre-readers ample freedom to draw from the experiences of their own toy chests as they scan Staake’s vibrant spreads brimming with chunky, digitally rendered objects and children at play. The sense of community and sharing suggested by most of the spreads contributes well to Stein’s ultimate theme, which he frames by asking: “But which toy is / the best toy ever? / The one most fun? / Most cool and clever?” Faced with three concluding pages filled with all sorts of indoor and outside toys to choose from, youngsters may be shocked to learn, on turning to the final spread, that the greatest one of all—“a toy SENSATION!”—proves to be “[y]our very own / imagination.”
Clever verse coupled with bold primary-colored images is sure to attract and hone the attention of fun-seeking children everywhere. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6254-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013
Share your opinion of this book
More by Peter Stein
BOOK REVIEW
by Peter Stein ; illustrated by Peter Stein
BOOK REVIEW
by Peter Stein ; illustrated by Bob Staake
BOOK REVIEW
by Peter Stein ; illustrated by Peter Stein
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.