by Ted Dewan & illustrated by Ted Dewan ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 11, 2003
A privileged piglet adjusts to life with triplets in Dewan’s sequel to Crispin: The Pig Who Had It All (not reviewed). Dewan’s opening spread shows the boy, alone, riding a scooter in front of his rambling, futuristic home. Later, he tools around inside with his friend Penny, a floppy-eared rabbit, and Nick, a blue raccoon. “How would you like a little brother or sister?” his mother asks as she works out on an elliptical machine. The idea has never crossed his mind, but, being a sensible pig, Crispin goes to Penny’s crowded apartment to learn what life is like with siblings. Lively and humorously detailed, Dewan’s illustration reveals bunnies on the counter, the floor, in the cupboard and drawer. How bad could one baby be, Crispin thinks. When his mother gives birth to triplets Crispin isn’t sure what to do and with all the attention lavished on the babies, he feels left out. The situation worsens when the babies come home. Grouped in trios, a series of side-by-side vignettes portray a growing trend. On the left, guests arrive bearing gifts for Crispin; smaller illustrations appear on the right, reflecting the boy’s diminished spirit as the guests go off “to play with the piglets” and leave him standing alone. Any child who’s ever had to make room for siblings will sympathize with Crispin and recognize themselves as he eases into the role of big brother. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: March 11, 2003
ISBN: 0-385-74633-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2002
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by Doreen Cronin & illustrated by Harry Bliss ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2005
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
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by Andrew Clements & illustrated by R.W. Alley ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 23, 2005
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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