It’s not easy to be darling and genuine, but this story from Ellis manages both without a hitch. It helps, too, that LaFave’s (We’ll All Go Sailing, not reviewed, etc.) artwork uses sweeping lines and bright colors on expansive fields of white to great effect. The story concerns the feelings of Ben, a preschooler whose older siblings have received report cards, and sensational ones at that. The cards get taped to the refrigerator and there is a general celebration to mark the good grades. Ben gets no report card: He’s too little. And as the day progresses, he seems to be getting littler by the minute. He can’t swim with the others, he can’t see out of the car window like the others, and he doesn’t want Chinese food or a bedtime story. He has, inevitably, a bellyache. All he wants is his blanket. But then his brother and sister come to his rescue. They fashion a report card for Ben: “ ‘Does it have subjects?’ says Ben. ‘Yes,’ says Robin. ‘Your subjects are: Feeding the Cat, Shoe Tying, Tooth Brushing, Whistling, and Making Us Laugh.’ ” Ben gets straight A’s, and the comments from his professors couldn’t be more laudable. Well, suddenly Ben is feeling pretty spry. Maybe he’ll just show his dad just how good he can tie his shoes, even though he ought to be in bed. The sweet after the sour: Perhaps Ben will have that leftover Chinese food as a midnight snack. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2001
ISBN: 1-55041-679-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Fitzhenry & Whiteside
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2001
Both a sweet lap-read and a gentle exhortation that caregivers interact with their children.
Marr and White produce a toddler sequel to Bunny Roo, I Love You (2015).
“One day you woke… / and hopped out of bed. I thought you’d become a frog, / so I brought you to the pond,” the doting narrator begins. But after touching the water, the child behaves like a duckling. And when the narrator joins the child in the water, the child clings like a monkey to the adult’s back. This pattern continues as the adult and child go through their day interacting, the child becoming a snake and a cheetah before morphing into “my bunny roo.” The rabbit eats some salad before a snuggle finally reveals the human child they have been all along, a barefoot tot in green one-piece pajamas with light skin and hair a shade lighter than their mother’s red. “You are my everything, as fun as all the animals in the world.” Pale, creamy backgrounds and sparse details keep the focus on the parent-child relationship, which is very sweet and tender, especially in the closing vignette of mother holding a snuggly child. The mother, whether animal or human, has prominent eyelashes that her child lacks. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-19-inch double-page spreads viewed at 29.7% of actual size.)
Both a sweet lap-read and a gentle exhortation that caregivers interact with their children. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-525-51604-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
It’s Tuesday: library day and Lola’s favorite time of the weekly routine. At the library, Lola can visit “a special section . . . just for children,” listen to stories, sing songs and select a new batch of books to borrow. While her mommy is not quite out of bed yet, Lola is ready to go with her own library card and backpack filled with books to return. This eager, happy toddler gives readers a complete tour of a conventional weekly visit to the library that includes, on the walk home, a snack of cappuccino for her mommy and juice for Lola. Beardshaw’s vividly colored acrylic paintings of a mother and child’s morning outing in their racially mixed neighborhood complements the classic library scenes charged with a child’s vibrant enthusiasm. The simple, significant message will ring true with every librarian, teacher, caregiver and parent as the day concludes with Lola’s nightly bedtime story. Everyone should begin and end the day with a good book. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: July 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-58089-113-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2006
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