A worthy-enough lesson in a passable package. An additional title at best.
All that glitters can turn a raccoon’s head, but how much is enough?
“In a forest with trees pointing up to the moon, / there lived and there sang an uncommon raccoon. / … / High in his perch at the top of a tree, / Rahoola sang simply to set a song free.” While Rahoola sings, other raccoons obsessively collect sparkly objects in the moonlight. Rahoola knows nothing of their obsession until bears set upon his cousin and Rahoola inherits a house full of shiny things. He forgets his song and fixates on collecting until the house overflows…and then he sees his “treasures” in the light of the sun. All those shiny objects were really just trash (tinfoil balls, tin cans and greasy takeout boxes). Lesson learned, Rahoola packs the junk off to the dump and resumes his nightly singing. Art teacher and indie comic-strip artist Anke’s moralistic fable is a bit forced in message and, at times, rhyme. “After a while, the shiny thing habit / became the raccoons’ ‘Stop-Look-and-Grab-It.’ ” There are logic gaps too: Rahoola’s realization occurs after seeing his loot in daylight, but earlier illustrations show well-lit raccoon-home interiors. Anke’s watercolors, a mix of spot and full-bleed, show skinny, expressive, often goofy raccoons; but the palette never strays very far from grays and tans.
A worthy-enough lesson in a passable package. An additional title at best. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-9857932-0-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cupola Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2012
Young readers will be “antsy” to join the hero on her satisfying escapade.
An ant explores her world.
Addie Ant’s ready for adventure. Despite some trepidation about leaving the Tomato Bed, where she lives with her aunt, she plucks up her courage and ventures forth across the garden to the far side of the shed. On her journey, she meets her pal Lewis Ladybug, who greets her warmly, points the way, and offers sage advice. When Addie arrives at her destination, she’s welcomed by lovely Beatrix Butterfly and enjoys an “ant-tastic” helping of watermelon. Beatrix also provides Addie with take-home treats and a map for the “Cricket Express,” which will take her straight home. Arriving at the terminal, Addie’s delighted to meet another friend, Cleo Cricket, whose carriage service returns Addie home in “two hops.” After eating a warm tomato soup dinner, Addie falls asleep and dreams of future exploits. Adorable though not terribly original, this story brims with sensuous pleasures, both textual and visual. Kids who declare that they dislike fruits or veggies may find their mouths watering at the mentions and sights of luscious tomatoes, peas, beans, watermelons, berries, and other foodstuffs; insect-averse readers may likewise think differently after encountering these convivial, wide-eyed characters. And those flowers and herbs everywhere! The highlights are the colors that burst from the pages. Addie’s an endearing, empowering character who reassures children they’ll be able to take those first independent steps successfully.
Young readers will be “antsy” to join the hero on her satisfying escapade. (author’s note about ants) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781797228914
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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