Required reading for all young children taking their first ventures into the wide world beyond immediate parental reach.
Little Nutbrown Hare bravely ventures out to the Far Field and back in four sweet new outings illustrated “in the style of” Anita Jeram.
With Big Nutbrown Hare still in attendance, Little Nutbrown nerves himself for a bit of climbing after his favorite Hiding Tree falls in a storm. He is also (very) briefly lost in fog on Cloudy Mountain, and he finds an interesting burrow in distant Far Field (but heeds his inner voice’s warning that dark holes are dangerous). Finally, he invites Big Nutbrown to guess his favorite place as the two are “wandering home at the end of the day.” Complementing McBratney’s mastery at capturing the feelings and concerns of toddlers in words, Wagner and Tarbett channel his original illustrator in posing sinuously drawn characters, alone and together, in ways that subtly but clearly express joy, anxiety, excitement and curiosity. Most strongly of all, they capture the intimate attachment that lights up all of the Hares’ appearances from Guess How Much I Love You (1995) on. Low tufts of wildflowers and other foliage backed by thin washes of pale greens and blues create a properly idyllic natural setting. Despite some unfortunate Americanizations and a picture of flying insects that are confusingly called "daddy-long-legs," this book is still close to sublime.
Required reading for all young children taking their first ventures into the wide world beyond immediate parental reach. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5896-0
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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