A sea gull finds a flock in an unlikely crustacean.
While basking in the sun on a rock in the middle of the ocean, a sea gull remarks, “Blue sky, gentle breeze! Warm sun, cool feet! It’s a perfect day.” That is, until a nitpicky crab crawls onto the rock and negates the sea gull’s optimism. According to the crab, the day is not perfect, as the sky has a cloud in it (yes, just one). The sea gull counters that the cloud is “pretty.” But the crab persists with the negativity, next noting the “smelly old boat” in the distance and the barnacles on the slippery rock. “Fine!” the sea gull says, and flies off “to find a better rock”—one without crabs. But when both the old and the new rock—in reality, two whales’ heads—rise up out of the ocean, the sea gull’s “perfect day” completely sinks. Or does it? Brannen’s spare dialogue, accompanied by three gorgeous and completely wordless double-page spreads, makes for lovely opportunities to talk with young readers about the story. The rich watercolor art employs multiple techniques to create textural contrast. The animal figures are simply drawn and outlined with thick, black lines, but their expressive gestures and faces bring them to life. That the sea gull would choose to befriend rather than just eat the annoying crab adds a layer to the story—and indeed the sea gull’s bright-eyed personality.
A sweet, simple friendship story buoyed by sophisticated art. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: July 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-984-81284-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: March 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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Both beautiful and inspiring as graduation gift or guide to life.
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An inspirational picture book offers life advice for readers who want to be themselves.
Replete with sparkling, often quirky illustrations of children living their best lives, this book is a gorgeous guidebook for those seeking encouragement while encountering life’s challenges. The children featured—a racially diverse group ranging from infants to preschoolers—cheerfully navigate the various injunctions that flow through the text: “Be curious.…Be adventurous.…Be persistent.…Be kind.” What is remarkable about the book is that even though the instructions and the brief sentences explaining them are at times vague, the illustrations expand on them in ways readers will find endearing and uplifting. Those depicting painful or challenging moments are especially effective. The “Be persistent” double-page spread shows a child in a boat on stormy seas; it’s rich with deep blues as it emphasizes the energy of wind and rain and struggle in the face of challenge. Together with the accompanying repeated phrase “Keep going, never stop. Keep going, never stop. Keep going, never stop,” this spread arrests readers. By contrast, the “Be kind. Be understanding” spread simply presents two children’s faces, one cast in blue and the other in gold, but the empathy that Reynolds conveys is similarly captivating. While there is no plot to pull readers through the pages, the book provides rich fodder for caregivers to use as teachable moments, both informally and in classroom settings.
Both beautiful and inspiring as graduation gift or guide to life. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-338-57231-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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Hee haw.
32
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The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 29, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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