Unfettered, fresh illustrations communicate a child’s bottomless love for a treasured possession.
Remember clutching that beloved childhood object to your chest? Closing your eyes to breathe in a smell as familiar as your own skin, readying yourself for the steepest slide or the darkest night?
Small Bunny finds just this kind of comfort in his blue blanket, soft with wear and dirt, but he worries some of its threadbare magic will wash away when mother does laundry. Appealingly elemental line drawings aptly describe a straightforward story about a child’s simple love of a singularly special possession. Hints of pink highlight Small Bunny’s ears and cotton tail, sweetening and softening the nearly colorless pictures of the boxy-bodied rabbit with dot eyes. Faint blue watercolors accent specifics in his surroundings (an apron, a swing seat, water in the tub) and orient readers to the tiniest corners of his world. Small Bunny’s blanket, appropriately, anchors every page. Trailing behind him on the swing or tucked under his bottom in front of the easel, it’s the only swath of color, assuming new shapes and undulating with watery blues and rippling collage work. Feeney’s winsome illustrations benefit from ample white space, which somehow endows each scene with earnest, emotional weight. Her words, succinct and spot-on, appear in well-spaced lettering (irregularly colored blue by hand) and float on the wide white backdrop.
Unfettered, fresh illustrations communicate a child’s bottomless love for a treasured possession. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: June 12, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-375-87087-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Eye-catching fun.
This bright new entry by an old pro should find a place on the long shelf of picture books about animals and colors.
A narrator-artist appears at the beginning and end, confidently wielding a brush. Each spread in between showcases a single large, arresting animal portrait. The child-friendly theme features fanciful coloring: blue horse, pink rabbit, purple fox. Although the narrator claims specifically to “paint” each one, the illustrations are actually made from painted tissue-paper collage, which allows for stylized sharp edges and a lively choppiness. To emphasize the bold bushiness of the green lion’s mane and the thick, rugged armor on the dark-red crocodile, Carle pulls a tool through wet paint, leaving thick patterned lines. The textured, yellow-and-orange cow’s body reveals traces of darkness showing through from the night-sky background of black and green-blue. Fans of animals, color recognition or shouting out what’s unusual will laugh at each creature’s delightfully preposterous color. An author’s note pays homage to Franz Marc, a German painter born in 1880, and reproduces two pieces: Blue Horse I and Yellow Cow. The target audience here will find the concept of a tribute to a fine artist too abstract, but Marc’s colorful pieces themselves might well hold interest, with adult encouragement.
Eye-catching fun. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25713-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Aug. 23, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
While children should not expect a Bully Goat to change his ways so quickly, this does provide them with some tools against...
Llama Llama loves the fun things he gets to do at school, but will a Bully Goat ruin his day?
Writing, drawing, counting, playing with clay, singing songs during circle time—what’s not to love about school? Well, being called names and laughed at for clapping and singing along, for one thing. Being the target of sand that’s kicked and dirt that’s thrown for another. Teacher has already made it clear that Gilroy Goat’s name-calling will not be tolerated, but Teacher isn’t near the sandbox. What will Llama Llama and Nelly Gnu do? Stand up to him, of course: “Gilroy, this is not OK. / Stop it, or we’ll go away.” They then walk away and tell a teacher. After Gilroy’s requisite lecture and long timeout, kindly Llama Llama approaches him, offering to let him play. While the resolution is too pat, and everyone gets over their feelings unbelievably quickly, still, Dewdney’s lovable Llama Llama offers children one strategy to combat bullying, all couched in her trademark rhyming verse and presented through situations that are sure to resonate with those new-to-school. Her textured oil, colored-pencil and oil-pastel illustrations shine when portraying the animals’ faces—joy, discomfort, surprise, anger, stubbornness, disappointment are all crystal-clear on them.
While children should not expect a Bully Goat to change his ways so quickly, this does provide them with some tools against bullying. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-670-01395-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 25, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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