Finicky eaters abound in this rainforest/selva, in which several bilingual baby animals refuse their normal foods. Bananas are funky for one small Monkey, pomegranate seeds too messy for Baby Toucan, mango too sweet for a young Iguana and the same flower petal over and over is “so lame!” according to Little Butterfly. Elya’s signature blended Spanish-with-English couplets highlight a series of dietary complaints summed up best by a tiny hummingbird tired of eating nectar. “ ‘Flowers—no más!’ He flits there en frente. / ‘Hummingbird kids need food diferente!’ ” Variety proves a spicy solution when one creative mama macaw surprises everyone with a midweek-playgroup fruit ensalada that offers deliciously new choices for all to share. Walker’s acrylic paintings in rich, primary rainforest colors add appeal to the bouncy, sometimes uneven rhyme. Kids with picky palates will appreciate the message and discover new tasty options while training their tongues with morsels of Spanish. An illustrated glossary and pronunciation guide completes the fare. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-399-24766-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
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