New-to-preschool tots will find a kindred spirit in both adventurous spirit and emotional development.
Billie B. Brown continues to learn preschool lessons in this trim, little series (Billie’s Underwater Adventure, 2016, etc.).
Billie doesn’t eat much breakfast, so her stomach is “growly and grumbly.” Luckily there is a brand new bakery stand in the classroom—made from a cardboard box—where she can bake delectable treats with her friends Jack and Emily (all three friends are white in this outing). There are many hungry toys waiting for a bite of something sweet. With a pinch of sugar, a few cups of flour, and a hefty dose of imagination, Billie and Jack make delicious “button buns” that the customers love. But Emily is jealous. So she whips up a three-tiered berry confection that leaves everyone in awe. Caught in a cycle of one-upmanship, Billie and Jack try to make “pinkle-dough muffins,” but instead of measuring carefully, they rush to be the best and end up with a pinkle-dough explosion instead. In a simultaneous publication, Billie’s Wild Jungle Adventure (2016), Billie and Jack get caught in another imaginative (yet not quite as much fun) escapade involving a pretend snake in the preschool’s backyard. Larger, italicized type in both volumes highlights intriguing vocabulary, and Billie never fails to have a “super-duper idea” to save the day.
New-to-preschool tots will find a kindred spirit in both adventurous spirit and emotional development. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-61067-554-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren.
In talk-show host Fallon and illustrator Ordóñez’s latest picture-book collaboration, an elderly pooch waxes rhapsodic about a life well lived.
Observing Papa sitting in his chair watching TV all day, a young pup says, “I’m starting to think…you don’t do ANYTHING.” So Papa proceeds to list his accomplishments, both big and small, mundane and profound. Some are just a result of being older and physically bigger (being tall enough to reach a high shelf and strong enough to open jars); others include winning a race and performing in a band when he was younger. Eventually, the pup realizes that while Papa may have slowed down in his old age, he’s led a full life. The most satisfying thing about Papa’s life now? Watching his grandchild take center stage: “I can say lots of thoughts / but I choose to be quiet. / I’d rather you discover things and then try it.” Fallon’s straightforward text is sweetly upbeat, though it occasionally lacks flow, forcing incongruous situations together to fit the rhyme scheme (“I cook and I mow, / and I once flew a plane. // I play newspaper puzzles because it’s good for my brain”). Featuring uncluttered, colorful backgrounds, Ordóñez’s child-friendly digital art at times takes on sepia tones, evoking the sense of looking back at old photos or memories. Though the creators tread familiar ground, the love between Papa and his little one is palpable.
A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781250393975
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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