Using only his vibrant illustrations, Bush creatively transforms the familiar rhyme about an active bear’s day into a full-out adventure. While the words of this classic childhood chant remain the same, Bush’s pictures tell an engrossing tale of an ingenuous bear who tumbles out of his owner’s backpack. With the assistance of furry and feathered friends alike, the lost bear makes it safely home before the little boy’s return. This new interpretation puts a unique spin on the tried-and-true verses; e.g., for “jump up high,” the intrepid bear is carried away by a friendly gull. The toddler-friendly pictures are just right for a younger audience. Bush’s full-color watercolor illustrations saturate the pages in a medley of vivid hues, perfectly designed to capture a reader’s attention. The final page includes a detailing of the traditional movements that accompany each action described in the verses. Bush’s refreshing take on this classic rhyme only enhances its timeless endurance and is a wonderful way to introduce a true favorite to the next generation of little bears. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: May 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-057835-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
The mother-daughter team of Anne and Lizzy Rockwell (Thanksgiving Day, 1999, etc.) presents their fourth visit to Mrs. Madoff’s busy, bright, and active classroom. Today is career day, when students bring special visitors to school to talk about their work. It may be scary for a child to introduce his or her guest, but the first-person narrator does a fine job of introducing his bulldozer-driving dad, Mr. Lopez. Charlie’s visitor is his mom, a judge; Kate’s dad plays bass in an orchestra at night, practices, and handles child-care during the day, while his wife works in a bank. The multicultural class meets a writer, a paleontologist, a school-crossing guard, a nurse, a veterinarian, a sanitation worker, a carpenter, a grocery store manager, and even a student teacher’s college professor. A full-page illustration shows each worker on the job; smaller details facing these pages introduce them and their host children to readers as well as to the rest of Mrs. Madoff’s class. A sparkling, family-centered, no-threat introduction to considerations of what might be fun for little ones to do when they grow up. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: May 31, 2000
ISBN: 0-06-027565-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2000
Loewen’s story is a simple snapshot of kindergarten graduation day, and it stays true to form, with Yoshikawa’s artwork resembling photos that might be placed in an album—and the illustrations cheer, a mixed media of saturated color, remarkable depth and joyful expression. The author comfortably captures the hesitations of making the jump from kindergarten to first grade without making a fuss about it, and she makes the prospect something worth the effort. Trepidation aside, this is a reminder of how much fun kindergarten was: your own cubbyhole, the Halloween parade, losing a tooth, “the last time we’ll ever sit criss-cross applesauce together.” But there is also the fledgling’s pleasure at shucking off the past—swabbing the desks, tossing out the stubbiest crayons, taking the pictures off the wall—and surging into the future. Then there is graduation itself: donning the mortarboards, trooping into the auditorium—“Mr. Meyer starts playing a serious song on the piano. It makes me want to cry. It makes me want to march”—which will likely have a few adult readers feeling the same. (Picture book. 4-5)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7614-5807-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2011
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