This may not send wee ones to the Land of Nod, but it will spark their imaginations and tickle their funny bones.
Counting sheep has never been such a cooperative effort!
A little black child lies in bed on the endpapers staring at a sheep-shaped clock. A puffy, stuffed sheep rests at the end of the bed. The child is counting sheep. As the book begins, Sheep 99 and Sheep 100 sail over the fence, but Sheep 101 (the stuffed toy) becomes stuck midjump. Sheep 102 tries to help, but the child narrator tells it sheep aren’t supposed to talk. As Sheep 101 continues to struggle, along comes a cow (the one that jumped over the moon); she says they’re out of sheep and she’s Sheep 103. The fifth little piggy is Sheep 104. One of the three blind mice is Sheep 105. Sheep 102 returns and calls in Sandman, a Lego rescue copter…only to find that Sheep 101 (and the child) are fast asleep. Morris’ charmer of a bedtime tale is told mostly in speech balloons with occasional text interjection from the counting child, who is depicted only on the endpapers. Pham’s digitally finished crayon-and-pencil cartoon illustrations, all full-bleed, are full of foolish-looking farm animals who routinely break the fourth wall and address the counting child (and the audience). Cheeky characters, onomatopoeia, and plenty of goofy action will keep the pages turning and force rereads.
This may not send wee ones to the Land of Nod, but it will spark their imaginations and tickle their funny bones. (Picture book. 2-7)Pub Date: March 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-21359-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The flat ending is disappointing for a group of characters who could have exhibited a rousing rhythmic finale.
Just before showtime, the animals in the band must search for their instruments in the lost and found by their identifying sounds.
A mouse happily claims the trumpet after a congenial-looking rabbit clerk produces a bicycle horn, trumpet, and toy train in response to a request for an instrument that makes a “Toot! Toot! Toot!” sound. Similarly a beaver retrieves the triangle from an assortment of things that make a “Ding! Ding! Ding!” sound. An elephant and a squirrel find their piano and drum, and the band reassembles, led by their conductor, a bat. The animals’ questions are phrased in rhyming couplets: “The thing I lost goes Plink! Plank! Plunk! I play it with my big, long trunk,” explains the elephant. The simple, black-outlined cartoons against a white or pale yellow background extend the narrative so that readers are expected to discern objects with their corresponding sounds. The rabbit offers the elephant first a piggy bank (“Plink!”), then a flowerpot full of water (“Plank!”), and then a comically tiny piano (“Plunk!”). Unfortunately, as the band comes together, their meager performance reflects the bareness of this storyline. The bat ends the search and exclaims, “You found my things! They sound so grand. / One, two, three— // let’s hit it, band! / Toot! Ding! Plunk! Boom!”
The flat ending is disappointing for a group of characters who could have exhibited a rousing rhythmic finale. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 13, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-238068-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Has to be said: It hits all the right notes.
DiCamillo and illustrator Van Dusen collaborate again, this time on a holiday story that includes their beloved porcine heroine, Mercy Watson.
Though Stella, who lives next door to the Watsons, is determined to spread spur-of-the-moment Christmas spirit, when she goes door to door asking for neighbors to go caroling with her, no one is willing except for Mercy, General Washington the cat, and Maybelline the horse. The quartet’s loud and “not very musical” version of “Deck the Halls” brings out the neighbors for an accordion concert and an impromptu merry feast. In any other hands, this story might be too saccharine, but thanks to DiCamillo’s quirky and endearing characters and subtle use of scene, it feels like a bit of Christmas magic. Van Dusen’s distinct rosy-cheeked characters give life to the uniquely named neighbors. Perhaps the most powerful illustration shows the group hand in hand looking up at the stars. Readers’ perspective is from below them, forcing the eye up and into the beautiful night “above the tired and hopeful earth,” a pitch-perfect pairing with DiCamillo’s poetic text. This celebration of community lit from the spark of just one joyful child anchors this familiar, warm story. Stella is biracial, and most of her neighbors are light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Has to be said: It hits all the right notes. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1360-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
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