Some amusing plays on words, and a keen device for keeping little hands turning pages doesn’t quite succeed in this picture book from Walton (So Many Bunnies, 1998, etc.). Bullfrog heads for Ravenous Gulch, and he sure is hungry when he gets there. He swipes a pizza from Starvin’ Marvin, picks a watermelon, steals bread from a bakery, takes apples from a tree, and finally ends up in Ravenous Gulch’s Fine Groceries, Fine Dining, and Fine Art Emporium where he eats everything in sight with such enthusiasm that he knocks the pictures from the walls. Bullfrog finds salvation, though, when the townsfolk realize they have a contender for the County Super Eater Contest. Most pages end with a word in boldface; its meaning changes with the turn of the page, e.g., the bullfrog “bolts” on one page, implying that he’s hopping away, but the next page reveals that what he bolts is “the door shut.” The action appears on square paintings offset by white borders and full of skewed perspectives. The images combined with the squiggly, hard-to-decipher typeface will make this hard on newer readers, but they might appreciate the language: “Stop eatin’ my apples, you canyon-mouthed fruit catcher!” (Picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-87905-903-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Bishop’s spectacular photographs of the tiny red-eyed tree frog defeat an incidental text from Cowley (Singing Down the Rain, 1997, etc.). The frog, only two inches long, is enormous in this title; it appears along with other nocturnal residents of the rain forests of Central America, including the iguana, ant, katydid, caterpillar, and moth. In a final section, Cowley explains how small the frog is and aspects of its life cycle. The main text, however, is an afterthought to dramatic events in the photos, e.g., “But the red-eyed tree frog has been asleep all day. It wakes up hungry. What will it eat? Here is an iguana. Frogs do not eat iguanas.” Accompanying an astonishing photograph of the tree frog leaping away from a boa snake are three lines (“The snake flicks its tongue. It tastes frog in the air. Look out, frog!”) that neither advance nor complement the action. The layout employs pale and deep green pages and typeface, and large jewel-like photographs in which green and red dominate. The combination of such visually sophisticated pages and simplistic captions make this a top-heavy, unsatisfying title. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-87175-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
Baker (Big Fat Hen, 1994, etc.) engages in more number play, posing ducklings in every combination of groups, e.g., “Splashing as they leap and dive/7 ducklings, 2 plus 5.” Using a great array of streaked and dappled papers, Baker creates a series of leafy collage scenes for the noisy, exuberant ducklings to fill, tucking in an occasional ladybug or other small creature for sharp-eyed pre-readers to spot. Children will regretfully wave goodbye as the ducks fly off in neat formation at the end of this brief, painless introduction to several basic math concepts. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-292858-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
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