by Sarah Sullivan ; illustrated by Madeline Valentine ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 5, 2019
This winter sports portrayal is a fine and attractive addition to the season’s preschool collection.
A child and their parent enjoy a wintry skating outing while other skaters of varying degrees of ability and expertise surround them.
When the child takes a few skating steps, slides, turns, and promptly falls, the parent moves in to help and gently assure that falling is part of learning. A break taken in the snack-bar hut provides warmth, hot cocoa, and sandwiches. Later, another whirl around the pond together comes to a close with skates coming off and a ride home to a bath and cozy bedtime routine. The lively, brief rhyming text outlines the story’s sequence as it depicts the adjoining scenes. “Good friends gliding in a row. / Holding on and letting go. // Hockey sticks go clatter-clack. / Figure skaters stay on track. // Couples waltz. Children race / Happy people. Happy place.” Lovely drawings with simple details, done digitally and using watercolors and colored pencil, move the verse from a brisk, snow-covered day scene to the deeper purple hues of a winter dusk and a final, deeper blue when nighttime creatures enjoy the frozen pond. Though the protagonist and parent present white, multiracial representation is evident throughout the skating community.
This winter sports portrayal is a fine and attractive addition to the season’s preschool collection. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9686-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
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by Karma Wilson ; illustrated by Jane Chapman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 16, 2024
Cheery fun that will leave series fans “egg”-static.
In his latest outing, Bear and his pals go in search of eggs.
Bear “lumbers with his friends through the Strawberry Vale.” Raven finds a nest; climbing up, “The bear finds eggs!”: a refrain that appears throughout. Instead of eating the robin’s eggs, however, Bear leaves a gift of dried berries in the nest for the “soon-to-be-chicks.” Next, the friends find 10 mallard eggs (as bright blue as the robin’s), and Bear leaves sunflower seeds. Then the wail of Mama Meadowlark, whose bright yellow undercarriage strikes a warm golden note, leads them to promise to find her lost eggs. With his friends’ assistance, Bear finds one, and they decide to paint them “so they aren’t lost again.” Another is discovered, painted, and placed in Hare’s basket. After hours of persistent searching, Bear suddenly spots the remaining two eggs “in a small patch of clover.” Before they can return these eggs, the chicks hatch and rejoin their mother. Back at his lair, Bear, with his troupe, is visited by all 17 chicks and the robin, mallard, and meadowlark moms: “And the bear finds friends!” Though this sweet spring tale centers on finding and painting eggs, it makes no overt references to Easter. The soft green and blue acrylics, predictable rhymes, and rolling rhythm make this series installment another low-key natural read-aloud.
Cheery fun that will leave series fans “egg”-static. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781665936552
Page Count: 40
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
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by Pip Jones ; illustrated by Sara Ogilvie ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2020
A disappointing follow-up.
Inventor Izzy Gizmo is back in this sequel to her eponymous debut (2017).
While busily inventing one day, Izzy receives an invitation from the Genius Guild to their annual convention. Though Izzy’s “inventions…don’t always work,” Grandpa (apparently her sole caregiver) encourages her to go. The next day they undertake a long journey “over fields, hills, and waves” and “mile after mile” to isolated Technoff Isle. There, Izzy finds she must compete against four other kids to create the most impressive machine. The colorful, detail-rich illustrations chronicle how poor Izzy is thwarted at every turn by Abi von Lavish, a Veruca Salt–esque character who takes all the supplies for herself. But when Abi abandons her project, Izzy salvages the pieces and decides to take Grandpa’s advice to create a machine that “can really be put to good use.” A frustrated Izzy’s impatience with a friend almost foils her chance at the prize, but all’s well that ends well. There’s much to like: Brown-skinned inventor girl Izzy is an appealing character, it’s great to see a nurturing brown-skinned male caregiver, the idea of an “Invention Convention” is fun, and a sustainable-energy invention is laudable. However, these elements don’t make up for rhymes that often feel forced and a lackluster story.
A disappointing follow-up. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68263-164-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
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