Comedic pacing and simultaneously scrupulous and silly artwork will leave readers howling
After spotting a scrawny dog in a swirl of city traffic and taking it home, Mini wants to call it her very own, but her mom suggests a dog with shoes must have an owner.
Pencil illustrations crackle with humor even before the title page, showing the mother and daughter right before they almost hit the little doggy in its teensy yellow shoes. The two sit, eyes glazed-over, sedated by traffic boredom, when suddenly hands and arms fly skyward, sunglasses fall askew, mouths gape, brakes slam, and eyes swirl dizzy and disoriented—finally coming to rest on a panting, happy hound. Energetic artwork and evocative facial reactions make the unfolding of a lost-dog story immensely funny. With the yellow of the dog’s shoes serving as the illustrations’ sole color, readers’ eyes end up lingering on linework and quirky background details. Mostly it’s the faces children will enjoy deciphering, though, as people and pups wear wonderfully exaggerated expressions. After the dog almost gets lost again (she’s a runner), Mini knows how her owner must feel and sets about finding that person, pinning posters everywhere in her neighborhood. A happy reunion and a doggy adoption bring smiles.
Comedic pacing and simultaneously scrupulous and silly artwork will leave readers howling . (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-38396-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
Little Owl loves the night forest. He can’t imagine a better place. He glides from friend to friend, watching and listening....
A graceful bedtime story celebrates the beauty found in night.
Little Owl loves the night forest. He can’t imagine a better place. He glides from friend to friend, watching and listening. Hedgehog snuffles for mushrooms. Turtle hides in her shell as fireflies dot the sky. But try as he might, Little Owl cannot wake Bear inside the Grumbly Cave. He snores soundly. But what if the bear has never seen stars? As morning draws near, Little Owl settles in on his branch and whispers softly to his mother, “[T]ell me again how night ends.” “Spiderwebs turn to silver threads,” she begins. “The sky brightens from black to blue, blue to red, red to gold.” But Little Owl does not hear. His wide, innocent green eyes have already shut tight. Srinivasan’s picture-book debut beckons readers to follow this curiously adorable creature through the sky. The moon and stars illuminate the dark background, and a flat palette of black, greens and browns blankets the forest in quiet stillness. More lyrical than linear, the story flits from one animal to the next. But readers won’t mind.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-670-01295-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable.
You think you know shapes? Animals? Blend them together, and you might see them both a little differently!
What a mischievous twist on a concept book! With wordplay and a few groan-inducing puns, Neal creates connections among animals and shapes that are both unexpected and so seemingly obvious that readers might wonder why they didn’t see them all along. Of course, a “lazy turtle” meeting an oval would create the side-splitting combo of a “SLOW-VAL.” A dramatic page turn transforms a deeply saturated, clean-lined green oval by superimposing a head and turtle shell atop, with watery blue ripples completing the illusion. Minimal backgrounds and sketchy, impressionistic detailing keep the focus right on the zany animals. Beginning with simple shapes, the geometric forms become more complicated as the book advances, taking readers from a “soaring bird” that meets a triangle to become a “FLY-ANGLE” to a “sleepy lion” nonagon “YAWN-AGON.” Its companion text, Animal Colors, delves into color theory, this time creating entirely hybrid animals, such as the “GREEN WHION” with maned head and whale’s tail made from a “blue whale and a yellow lion.” It’s a compelling way to visualize color mixing, and like Animal Shapes, it’s got verve. Who doesn’t want to shout out that a yellow kangaroo/green moose blend is a “CHARTREUSE KANGAMOOSE”?
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0534-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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