by Robert Kinerk & illustrated by Steven Kellogg ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2003
A rotund farm animal with a big personality and a yen to dance heads for the Big City. Sound familiar? Unlike Olivia, however, not only is Clorinda a cow, but she pays some dues on her way to a triumphant debut—and in the end learns to work within her limitations. After much weary auditioning and table-waiting, Clorinda finally joins a corps de ballet, but her joy lasts only until her first leap into a partner’s arms brings both crashing down. Though astonished to hear the audience applauding her effort, Clorinda heads sadly back to the farm. Is that the end? Not at all: she opens a dancing school and creates her own troupe. Kinerk’s verse gambols merrily along, and in full-bleed illustrations that extend to the endpapers, Kellogg’s costumed dancers, human and livestock both, likewise cavort across the pages with characteristic verve. Children expecting a Disneyfied happy-ever-after may take the point unwillingly, but should notice that Clorinda never abandons her dream, even after coming to realize that it’s not going to work out exactly the way she had hoped. (Picture book. 8-10)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-689-86449-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2003
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by Joanna Rzezak ; illustrated by Joanna Rzezak ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 18, 2021
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.
This book is buzzing with trivia.
Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
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by Joy Cowley ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1999
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
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by Joy Cowley ; illustrated by Giselle Clarkson
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by Joy Cowley ; illustrated by Kimberly Andrews
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