The fish in the sea are bored. There’s nothing to do but swim, swim, swim. Until Barry shows up, that is. Barry is a fish with...fingers! Wide-eyed with exuberance and brandishing ten bright-orange fingers stuck on like perpetual jazz hands, Barry is just what the ocean needs. With his fingers he can do many new things. Play with finger puppets! Knit a scarf! Type a letter! Tickle! And perhaps the most important of all—warn other fish of danger. When a large box suddenly falls into the water, Barry’s pointing finger (and accompanying shout) saves the day. What is in that large box? Pirate Jack’s Tasty Fish Sticks, of course. Now all the fish can have fingers too! A bit of a plodding plot aside, it’s no wonder Barry is able to cheer everyone up; Hendra, wielding bright gouaches on playfully flat compositions, has created one impossibly endearing little fish. (Readers would do well not to explore the bioethics of the fishes’ new digits too closely, though.) (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: June 8, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-375-85894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2010
This is a tremendously moving story, but some people will be moved only on the second reading, after they’ve Googled “How to...
A hug shouldn’t require an instruction manual—but some do.
A porcupine can frighten even the largest animal. In this picture book, a bear and a deer, along with a small rabbit, each run away when they hear eight simple words and their name: “I need a hug. Will you cuddle me,…?” As they flee, each utters a definitive refusal that rhymes with their name. The repetitive structure gives Blabey plenty of opportunities for humor, because every animal responds to the question with an outlandish, pop-eyed expression of panic. But the understated moments are even funnier. Each animal takes a moment to think over the request, and the drawings are nuanced enough that readers can see the creatures react with slowly building anxiety or, sometimes, a glassy stare. These silent reaction shots not only show exquisite comic timing, but they make the rhymes in the text feel pleasingly subtle by delaying the final line in each stanza. The story is a sort of fable about tolerance. It turns out that a porcupine can give a perfectly adequate hug when its quills are flat and relaxed, but no one stays around long enough to find out except for an animal that has its own experiences with intolerance: a snake. It’s an apt, touching moral, but the climax may confuse some readers as they try to figure out the precise mechanics of the embrace.
This is a tremendously moving story, but some people will be moved only on the second reading, after they’ve Googled “How to pet a porcupine.” (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Jan. 29, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-29710-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2018
A group of farm animals is drawn together by an unusually bright star shining over a stable in their neighborhood in this sentimental Nativity story. The narrative focuses on a gray kitten who is tenderly cared for by his mother in their home in a barn. They follow the other animals to the stable under the star, and as a group they enter and stand before the straw-filled manger in the final spread. The kitten describes his great happiness at this special baby, but unfortunately the baby is not shown in the illustration, which may leave readers confused and dissatisfied. Though Mendez’s large-format illustrations are appealing and the simple story is accessible to preschoolers, the ending demonstrates a lack of knowledge of the needs of this age group, who need to see to believe. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-545-10486-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2009
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