LITTLE DONKEY AND THE BIRTHDAY PRESENT

Name: LITTLE DONKEY AND THE BIRTHDAY PRESENT
Author: Rindert Kromhout
ISBN: 0-7358-2132-1

by Rindert Kromhout & illustrated by Annemarie van Haeringen & translated by Marianne Martens ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2007

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Little Donkey returns for a second outing in which the topic is the universal problem toddlers have with sharing. Jackie Yak is having a birthday. Little Donkey and his very patient mama go to buy the perfect present. Little Donkey opts for a beautiful new kite. Before too long, he decides he would rather keep the kite and instead give his old teddy bear to Jackie. Although Mama says “no,” Little Donkey must, of course, keep trying to get his way. He hides the kite and tries to substitute flowers, but finally—reluctantly—gives the present to his friend. Charming ink-and-watercolor illustrations add tremendously to the humor. Mrs. Donkey not only has a mother’s gentle understanding, but shows rather impressive cleavage in the amusing clothing in which van Haeringen dresses the characters. Her naïve and somewhat messy paintings are vastly appealing. This amusing, realistic and non-didactic treatment of a common experience is sure to please both toddlers and their parents. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 1, 2007

ISBN: 0-7358-2132-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: NorthSouth

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2007

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

- BOOK REVIEW
EAT UP, LITTLE DONKEY
by Rindert Kromhout ; illustrated by Annemarie van Haeringen

- BOOK REVIEW
1 2 3 LITTLE DONKEY
by Rindert Kromhout ; illustrated by Annemarie van Haeringen ; translated by Bill Nagelkerke

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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BECAUSE YOUR DADDY LOVES YOU

by Andrew Clements & illustrated by R.W. Alley ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 23, 2005

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Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)