With a mixture of pride, affection, and just an occasional saving flash of irritation, Alfie rattles on about his relationship with his adorable, adoring, younger sibling. Little Annie Rose loves games of peek-a-boo, sometimes prefers playing with her older brother’s friends and toys over her own, still sleeps in a crib, and may not be quite up to helping Dad build sandcastles on the beach, but makes “quite good” sand pies. Viewed at child’s-eye level, the naturalistically painted pair is seen at home and away, alone and with friends, happily absorbed in living their lives. Though Annie Rose has a generally sunny disposition, when she does fall into a bad mood, “I’m the only person who can cheer her up,” Alfie avers, “because she’s my little sister, and I’m her big brother, and we’ll go on being that forever . . . even until we’re grown up.” Conveying a warm feeling of domestic harmony, and modeling an ideal but not unrealistic closeness, this will please fans of Frieda Wishinsky’s Oonga Boonga (reissued 1998, with illus by Carol Thompson), Marc Brown’s tales of Arthur and D.W., and the like. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: March 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-7636-1959-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A humorous take on a child’s typical reluctance to go to bed on time, from the author/illustrator of Who Hops? (1998). Told in first person, the young narrator is certain that the fun begins as soon as she goes to bed. Convinced that her parents are having a party without her, she devises ruses to spy on them. She builds a giant pair of binoculars, gasps for water, and hides under a blanket, but each time she’s caught and given a finger-pointing, “Go to bed!” from each parent. “But I HATE to go to bed,” she always replies. Black pen outlines the cartoon figures; these are nearly, but not quite filled in with bright acrylics, giving the art the appearance of a child’s felt-marker drawings. In a clever contrast, the palette dims to shades of blue and purple whenever the narrator is in her darkened room, supposedly sleeping. Most children will relate to the anti-bedtime sentiments, and celebrate the party of an ending, where dogs dance and clowns cavort in the young girl’s dreams. The parents’ final sigh of relief is almost audible. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-201920-0
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A little bear’s day is filled with love—big, small, buzzing, wet, and sweet. Andreae points out that love can cover a much wider range of experiences than simple romantic notions, and may not even involve another person: “Love is a feeling of laughing out loud,” or, more insipidly, “Love is a rainbow that bursts through the sky when the sun begins shining again.” Where there is a connection to another person or creature, “Love is when somebody quietly listens to everything you’ve got to say.” Making friends with bees, slurping handfuls of honey, and bursting to share the day’s adventures with family at bathtime are some of the more original expressions of feeling that ring true. Cabban’s illustrations show the little bear’s world as a secure, happy place—just the kind of home where love abounds. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 1-888444-58-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1999
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