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
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
SEEN & HEARD
This is a tremendously moving story, but some people will be moved only on the second reading, after they’ve Googled “How to...
A hug shouldn’t require an instruction manual—but some do.
A porcupine can frighten even the largest animal. In this picture book, a bear and a deer, along with a small rabbit, each run away when they hear eight simple words and their name: “I need a hug. Will you cuddle me,…?” As they flee, each utters a definitive refusal that rhymes with their name. The repetitive structure gives Blabey plenty of opportunities for humor, because every animal responds to the question with an outlandish, pop-eyed expression of panic. But the understated moments are even funnier. Each animal takes a moment to think over the request, and the drawings are nuanced enough that readers can see the creatures react with slowly building anxiety or, sometimes, a glassy stare. These silent reaction shots not only show exquisite comic timing, but they make the rhymes in the text feel pleasingly subtle by delaying the final line in each stanza. The story is a sort of fable about tolerance. It turns out that a porcupine can give a perfectly adequate hug when its quills are flat and relaxed, but no one stays around long enough to find out except for an animal that has its own experiences with intolerance: a snake. It’s an apt, touching moral, but the climax may confuse some readers as they try to figure out the precise mechanics of the embrace.
This is a tremendously moving story, but some people will be moved only on the second reading, after they’ve Googled “How to pet a porcupine.” (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Jan. 29, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-29710-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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