More cozy family bonding from the creators of Guess How Much I Love You (1995). When three cubs want to know which is their parents’ favorite, Mama and Papa Bear provide inclusive but satisfying answers. The bears, sporting a subtext-engendering array of hues and markings, pose closely together in various ursine or human postures amid minimal natural settings; Mama and Papa are plainly inseparable, and the young ones, though aware of their physical differences, hold paws on the cover and are, throughout, poster “children” for sibling harmony. McBratney and Jeram again combine to address a common childhood anxiety in a relaxed, irresistibly soothing way, and the competitiveness that mars their bestselling earlier title is much reduced here. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-7636-2442-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2004
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Nine Naughty Kittens (42 pp.; $14.95; Oct.; 1-888444-62-2) A rhyming counting book launches nine boisterous kittens on a mission to reunite their family. One-line teasers appear with the current accumulation of kittens; lift-up half-pages reveal every newcomer’s unlikely location, e.g., “Five furry kittens find a pile of sticks/Jasper’s sleeping under them, and then there are six.” Jennings’s rhymes carry the story forward, while Church’s illustrations aptly demonstrate just how mischievous kittens can be. The positive message and endearing conclusion that reunites the kittens with their mother make this book a winner for members of the learning-to-count set, and for cat-lovers, as well. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 1-888444-62-2
Page Count: 42
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1999
The toddler and nursery-school sets will delightedly clap and cavort in step with this wide-awake baby, who boogies with a succession of toy animals rather than settle down to sleep. Plecas’s cartoon scenes of young parents in a cozy country home, patiently corralling their exuberant offspring again and again, make inviting backgrounds for an infectious rhyme, modeled on “The lady with the alligator purse,” and with easily guessable punch lines hidden beneath small gatefolds: “While Papa hauled the water / And Mama fixed the chow / Baby danced the cha-cha / With the chocolate-colored . . . COW. / Whoa! Papa’s water! / Whoa! Mama’s chow! / ‘Go!’ Baby giggled with the chocolate-colored cow.” Mama and Papa eventually throw in the towel, and dance along until the setting sun sends Baby at last to dancing dreams. Don’t even try to sit still with this one. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: March 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-8037-2587-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2004
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