PLB 0-688-11390-7 South Africa by day is a bustling city with tall buildings, teeming crowds, and busy markets; but at night the animals reign. After showing people in Johannesburg and a toddler asleep in her bed, Isadora (Isadora Dances, p. 113, etc.) moves viewers to Kruger National Park. The black mamba snake raises its head for a meal, lions and hungry leopards roam and hunt, and the peaceful elephant and her young drink at a water hole beneath a starry sky. As the sun rises, the animals slumber and the people again take to the streets. This juxtaposition of viewpoints will help children understand some of the contrasts of contemporary Africa. The illustrations of busy, daytime Johannesburg are colorful and full of detail, while scenes at the animal park are murky, conveying both a sense of the shadowy unknown and the vast open spaces. Ghost-like lionesses move in a smoky landscape of gray and tan where there is no visible demarcation between ground and sky. An astonishing sunrise scene finds the animals settling down under a wide orange sky, while the city market comes alive with flower-sellers and shoppers, ready for a new day. Children will be fascinated by this co-existence—a peaceable kingdom of sorts, with every rotation of the earth. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-688-11389-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Fast and furious action guaranteed to keep new readers laughing and turning pages.
Never underestimate the chaotic fun that magic and an angry bouncing ball can create.
When Frog goes to the library, he borrows a book on magic. He then heads to a nearby park to read up on the skills necessary to becoming “a great magician.” Suddenly, a deflated yellow ball lands with a “Thud!” at his feet. Although he flexes his new magician muscles, Frog’s spells fall as flat as the ball. But when Frog shouts “Phooey!” and kicks the ball away, it inflates to become a big, angry ball. The ball begins to chase Frog, so he seeks shelter in the library—and Frog and ball turn the library’s usual calm into chaos. The cartoon chase crescendos. The ball bounces into the middle of a game of chess, interrupts a puppet show, and crashes into walls and bookcases. Staying just one bounce ahead, Frog runs, hides, grabs a ride on a book cart, and scatters books and papers as he slides across the library furniture before an alligator patron catches the ball and kicks it out the library door. But that’s not the end of the ball….Caple’s tidy panels and pastel-hued cartoons make a surprisingly effective setting for the slapstick, which should have young readers giggling. Simple sentences—often just subject and verb—with lots of repetition propel the action. Frog’s nonsense-word spells (“Poof Wiffle, Bop Bip!”) are both funny and excellent practice in phonetics. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Fast and furious action guaranteed to keep new readers laughing and turning pages. (Graphic early reader. 5-7)Pub Date: Aug. 10, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4341-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
Bugs, friendship, and fun—what more could burgeoning readers want?
The titular characters collect and protect bugs in this early reader.
Against blocks of cartoonlike green grass and blue sky—with bugs hovering around them—two boys face readers with big smiles. Dirt has light skin and a head of floppy russet hair, while Bugsy has dark skin and an Afro. The text explains that “Dirt and Bugsy are bug catchers. They catch all kinds of bugs.” Bright islands of artwork against the next two white pages show nicely detailed drawings of bugs that “crawl,” “fly,” “slide,” or “hide.” Rudimentary sentences and phrases, subtle rhymes, and repetitive language encourage hesitant readers to stay engaged as a simple plot emerges. The boys are enjoying outdoor time with bugs when it begins to rain. They build a shelter—“a bug barn”—and diligently search for, seize, and house hiding bugs. The story’s conclusion is satisfactory in every way—no small feat in this genre. A welcome endnote, artistically rendered to look handwritten on lined paper, advises kids on how to be responsible bug catchers (“Find a good bug-catching jar”; “Go outside. Look around in good buggy places…”)—and bug releasers.
Bugs, friendship, and fun—what more could burgeoning readers want? (Early reader. 5-7)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-51992-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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