Children will need a little guidance from their adult readers to navigate this one.
When a group of penguins meet a human, everything changes. At first, they’re all happy…until they aren’t.
One day, a penguin meets a child—simply referred to as “the person”—roasting marshmallows. After spending a companionable time with the person, the penguin rejoins its group and tells them all about fires and marshmallows. “Naturally, [they all want] to roast marshmallows by the fire, too.” At first, they are “all happy to share one little fire that gave off the most delightful warmth”—until they aren’t. (It seems penguins don’t like to share.) As the birds each start building their own fires, the ice cracks, and they find themselves each on their own piece of ice. At first, that’s nice, until they are lonely. Eventually, they find their way back together again and give communal life another try, “and that was no trouble at all.” It’s quite charming, but ultimately, the message of the story is a little murky. Is it about friendship and the perils of not sharing, perhaps? Or the need to balance individual desires with community needs? Or is there an environmental angle to it, with all the warming from the fires changing their habitat? Sweet, textured penguins drawn against cool-colored washes of wintry blue and purple backgrounds populate this cautionary tale. The child is pale with dark hair. (This book was reviewed digitally with 8.5-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 18% of actual size.)
Children will need a little guidance from their adult readers to navigate this one. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Nov. 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-20848-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
The familiar singsong repetitiveness is catchy in all settings, holiday or otherwise.
A hoppy, snappy Easter version of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.
Three young tots, with varied skin tones and baskets ready in their hands, eagerly scamper on a spring day to find some eggs. But of course, they meet hindrances along the way. “Ooh, look … // Chickens! / Flapping, pecking chickens.” Thus starts the rolling refrain: “Can’t go over them. / Can’t go under them. / Can’t go around them. // Got to go through them!” The waddling chickens don’t pose much of an obstacle, but they do “Cluck-cluck!” loudly as they scatter in the sun. The three youngsters then must face “fluffy, hungry bunnies” (adorable long-eared puffballs with carrot fronds in their mouths) and “happy, hopping frogs” as they balance on stones to cross a pond. All of this leads to a garden bursting with colorful flowers (“Rustle-swish! / Rustle-swish!”) and finally…10 eggs in pastel patterns. Each egg has a number on it to encourage readers to count along and strengthen their numeracy skills. Rozelaar’s plump and rounded world, with roly-poly trees, flowers, and hills, wraps the tale in coziness.
The familiar singsong repetitiveness is catchy in all settings, holiday or otherwise. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9798887771304
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
The book is available in just about every format--but this is the perfect one.
It's hard to believe that a pop-up wasn't the creators' original intention, so seamlessly do moveable parts dovetail into this modern classic's storyline.
In contrast to the tale's 1998 pop -up version, the figures here move on every page, and with an unusually graceful naturalism to boot. From pulling down Big Nutbrown Hare's ears on the opening spread to make sure he's listening to drowsily turning his head to accept a final good-night kiss in a multi-leveled pull-down tableau at the close, all of Little Nutbrown Hare's hops, stretches and small gestures serve the poetically spare text—as do Big Nutbrown's wider, higher responses to his charge's challenges. As readers turn a flap to read Big Nutbrown's "But I love you this much," his arms extend to demonstrate. The emotional connection between the two hares is clearer than ever in Jeram's peaceful, restrained outdoor scenes, which are slightly larger than those in the trade edition, and the closing scene is made even more intimate by hiding the closing line ("I love you right up to the moon—and back") until an inconspicuous flap is opened up.
The book is available in just about every format--but this is the perfect one. (Pop-up picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5378-1
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2011
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