Will strike a chord in many a family.
Bella Bear wants to stir soup and cut bread, but Mama Bear must prevent her from doing these and other dangerous adult tasks.
Mama Bear tries to distract her precocious tot with a trip to the supermarket. Soon Bella’s racing on her tricycle and proclaiming herself ready for a two-wheeler. At the market, Bella fills her own cart with groceries, Mama worriedly eyeing the growing pile. Then Bella does something even more problematic. After seeing chocolate cookies on the top shelf (and knowing Mama’s penchant for chocolate), the cub decides to climb up for a box. Bella manages to reach the cookies—but suddenly Bella is scared and needs her mother’s help, because she is quite small, after all. It’s a good thing Mama is so tall. When they get home safely, the mother and daughter discuss the reality that while it’s good to be big, being small has its advantages, and Bella finally gets the message. The two brown bears of different shades and sizes have a textured look and bold outlines that make them stand out against mostly solid-colored backgrounds. They wear aprons in the house, and their cartoony features are appealing. Their familial love is heartfelt, and the rhyming story conveys a message that young children will easily relate to in a pre-K classroom, library storytime, or a family setting. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 30.3% of actual size.)
Will strike a chord in many a family. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-374-30580-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2020
Sure to have little ones giggling.
Jacques is a hedgehog with a big secret: “I wear real, bona fide underwear.”
Our narrator received a mysterious package one day; an illustration shows a pair of underwear tied to a balloon with a note “from the Universe” floating down into Jacques’ burrow. Hedgehogs don’t wear underwear, however. Will Jacques be shunned? Jacques worries but comes to a decision: “I have to wear them. When I do I feel special.” Determined, Jacques, who’s been invited to a party, makes a dramatic entrance, with undies in hand. Jacques’ declaration (“I WEAR UNDERWEAR”) is met with remarks of dismay, before another hedgehog opens up about similar fears and shows off a pair of cowboy boots. More hedgehogs introduce themselves with their own confessions. The story ends with Jacques unveiling a painting of the underwear in a gallery filled with hedgehogs wearing all sorts of attire. Though the book is simple in plot, characters, and setting, it wins in its balance of bathroom humor, dramatic storytelling, and celebrations of individual expression. French words are peppered throughout, adding to the fun without detracting from the story for those unfamiliar with the language. The cartoonish illustrations brim with fun; Valdez relies heavily on geometric shapes (triangle noses for the hedgehogs; huge circles for their eyes). Details such as speech bubbles and recurring turtle and snake characters contribute to the outlandish humor.
Sure to have little ones giggling. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781250814388
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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