Zvuvi the fly and cousin Zahava lead a tour of Israel’s sights and historical venues from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, from the coastal beaches of Netanya and Eilat through Haifa and the Galilee, north and south to Tiberias and the Dead Sea. Topaz’s joyfully rendered watercolor scenes accompany a chatty text with both tour guides leading the way. Readers are alerted to the wonders, beauty and history while also asked to search for the “tour flies” as they are hidden within the various scenes. This oversized format, with its many, layered views of the country, will serve as a good introduction for anyone planning a visit with children. The peculiar choice of the word “species” for a series of Israeli foods may lead kids to conclude that nothing else grows there, and Yad Vashem is oddly absent from the many sights. Still, Zvuvi and Zahava are likable guides, and the overall design and wealth of information make this a friendly introduction to the country. (map, glossary) (Informational picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-8225-8759-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2009
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
With wordplay reminiscent of Margie Palatini at her best, Helakoski takes four timorous chickens into, then out of, the literal and figurative woods. Fleeing the henhouse after catching sight of a wolf, the pusillanimous pullets come to a deep ditch: “ ‘What if we can’t jump that far?’ ‘What if we fall in the ditch?’ ‘What if we get sucked into the mud?’ The chickens tutted, putted, and flutted. They butted into themselves and each other, until one by one . . . ” they do fall in. But then they pick themselves up and struggle out. Ensuing encounters with cows and a lake furnish similar responses and outcomes; ultimately they tumble into the wolf’s very cave, where they “picked, pecked, and pocked. They ruffled, puffled, and shuffled. They shrieked, squeaked, and freaked, until . . . ” their nemesis scampers away in panic. Fluttering about in pop-eyed terror, the portly, partly clothed hens make comical figures in Cole’s sunny cartoons (as does the flummoxed wolf)—but the genuine triumph in their final strut—“ ‘I am a big, brave chicken,’ said one chicken. ‘Ohh . . . ’ said the others. ‘Me too.’ ‘Me three.’ ‘Me four’ ”—brings this tribute to chicken power to a rousing close. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-525-47575-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2005
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