In this picture book adventure of a now-familiar duo (Cat and Mouse and Something to Do, 1998, etc.), Bogacki describes how the curious cat and the curious mouse explore the green meadow turned white with snow. The two friends climb up the hill, then slide down, down, down. Meanwhile the other mice and cats wake up and go outside to find their siblings. They come upon the two friends covered in white snow and mistake them for monsters. Shrieks turn to delight, and everyone has a great time playing in the snow. When night comes they return to their respective homes to dream of snow. The soft chalk illustrations in grey, tan, and white on blue paper show flat stylized animals in a snowy world. Children will enjoy the brief repetitive text; adults will be glad to have an appealing alternative to Ezra Jack Keats’s The Snowy Day. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: Oct. 18, 1999
ISBN: 0-374-31192-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PLB 0-688-15996-6 The familiar plight of the smallest is the subject of this picture book from Keller (Brave Horace, 1998, etc.), featuring a baby bear, who is smaller than his mother, father, and siblings. Jacob is frustrated when he can’t reach the cookie jar, see himself in the mirror, or climb to the top of the jungle gym. Papa and Mama tell him he must wait to grow bigger, but Jacob hates waiting. Paint marks on a tree replace the traditional notches in a door frame to mark Jacob’s height. No matter how many vegetables he eats, he doesn’t grow; when the snows come, his mark is buried in a drift. After the snow melts, the reassuring ending finds Jacob grown, not only in stature but in maturity. The apple-cheeked characters are round and cuddly, while the homey, pen-and-watercolor scenes are ever-affable. At their center, the demonstrative Jacob is an everychild, learning to find joy in small measures. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-15995-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
Little Caterpillar longs to fly away with friends Ladybird and Bee. Wingless and earthbound, she patiently awaits their eventual reappearance. However, when Ladybird and Bee return from an aerial jaunt one day they discover that their friend is missing. Snail informs them that she is slumbering within a cocoon. Soon, to her friends delight, Caterpillar emerges sporting a pair of glorious yellow wings and asks to be called by her new name, Butterfly. The three are next seen soaring over the garden together. Murphy (I Like It When . . ., 1997) puts the characters for this vivid picture book amid the bright foliage of a bountiful garden. In the full-page illustrations, awash with color and drawn from a bug’s perspective, boldly outlined flowers loom as tall as trees, while leaves provide a verdant canopy for the convivial insects. The oversized format and thick, durable paper allow toddlers the freedom to manipulate the pages on their own, which they will, and frequently. (Picture book. 1-4)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7894-2593-9
Page Count: 20
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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