Pickiness aside, this is a clever, buoyant look at many children’s favorite relative.
A bouncy rhyme delivers a warm, light-hearted look at all kinds of grandmothers.
Nadeau chooses cozy backgrounds in pale greens and peachy pinks to highlight the humorous antics, superior talents and loving gestures of these adoring ladies. Known as Savta or Abuela or Baba or Daa-dee-maa, these grandmas from all cultures gab on park benches, balance in yoga poses, ride bikes, knit, bake and go birding. Schotter also includes a flashback to what these wonderful women did when they were younger, whether it be dancing to rock and roll or marching for equal rights. There is also a touch of the stereotypical: “There are nagging grandmas and bragging grandmas, / some noisy, some purry. / But no matter the grandma, / they all seem to worry!” Yet “when I need to know, / who she loves so, / I look in her eyes…” The ultimate message is that grandmas most enjoy spending time with their beloved grandchildren—and that “just like we do, they need to know, / who it is that loves them so.” This book has obvious uses as a discussion starter about family members and the roles they play. A glossary of Grandma in different languages at the beginning of the book is particularly helpful but would be more so if pronunciations were included.
Pickiness aside, this is a clever, buoyant look at many children’s favorite relative. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3714-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2012
Instills a sense of well-being in youngsters while encouraging them to explore the natural world.
This reassuring picture book exemplifies how parents throughout the animal kingdom make homes for their offspring.
The narrative is written from the point of view of a parent talking to their child: “If you were a beaver, I would gnaw on trees with my teeth to build a cozy lodge for us to sleep in during the day.” Text appears in big, easy-to-read type, with the name of the creature in boldface. Additional facts about the animal appear in a smaller font, such as: “Beavers have transparent eyelids to help them see under water.” The gathering of land, air, and water animals includes a raven, a flying squirrel, and a sea lion. “Home” might be a nest, a den, or a burrow. One example, of a blue whale who has homes in the north and south (ocean is implied), will help children stretch the concept into feeling at home in the larger world. Illustrations of the habitats have an inviting luminosity. Mature and baby animals are realistically depicted, although facial features appear to have been somewhat softened, perhaps to appeal to young readers. The book ends with the comforting scene of a human parent and child silhouetted in the welcoming lights of the house they approach: “Wherever you may be, you will always have a home with me.”
Instills a sense of well-being in youngsters while encouraging them to explore the natural world. (Informational picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-63217-224-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little Bigfoot/Sasquatch
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet and subtle book on sharing.
Rudy’s pink sweater is missing. Readers are invited to follow him as he searches for the sweater.
Rudy is a blue creature with a piggy snout, bunny ears, a thin, tufted tail, and a distraught look on his face. His beloved pink sweater is gone. “It was a bit too small and showed his belly button. But it was his favorite.” Where could it be? In a search that doubles as a countdown from 10 to one, Rudy makes his way through the different rooms of the house—top to bottom, inside and outside. As readers open the wardrobe door, “TEN tumbling cats” provide the first hint as to the sweater’s whereabouts. Following the pink yarn that runs across the pages, readers encounter some surprising creatures in each location—including a crocodile sitting in an outhouse busily knitting—as well as flaps to open and die cuts to peek through. Just as he’s about to give up hope—someone must’ve taken it, but “who would love wearing it as much as he did?”—the answer is revealed: “Trudy! His number ONE sister. The sweater fit her perfectly.” And, as is the nature of stories with a happy ending, Rudy gets a new sweater that fits him, from the knitting crocodile, of course. Plot, interactivity, vocabulary, and counting all contribute in making this an engaging book for the upper edge of the board-book range.
A sweet and subtle book on sharing. (Board book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3679-7
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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