While seemingly light fare at first glance, Mitton’s rhyming verses impart a fair amount of information about their dinosaur subjects, reflecting their behavior, food and eating habits and habitats. Peaceful Diplodocus’s long neck can reach the leaves he eats, but watch out for that whip-like tail. Pteranadon’s poem focuses on flight: “Watch how I whirl from the cliffs with a wheeeeeeeee! / swooping to scoop up a fish from the sea.” Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops and Deinonychus round out the more well-known dinosaurs, while Kronosaurus and Mononykus represent the lesser-known species. Front endpapers offer a pronunciation guide, while back ones give extra bites of information. Chapman’s illustrations reflect the text’s subtle fact-underneath-fun manner. While her dinosaurs would not be out of place on any cartoon channel, their habitats and body structures are accurate, even if their colors may be a little outlandish. Allowing for motion of a sort, the flaps suit the topic well, especially since many of the dinosaurs are too large to fit on a spread. With great vocabulary, verses that scan well and a large trim size, this fits well into dinosaur-themed storytimes. (Picture book/poetry. 3-6)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-7534-6226-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Kingfisher
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2009
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Oliver, of first-day-of-school alligator fame, is back, imagining adventures and still struggling to find balance between introversion and extroversion.
“When Oliver found his egg…” on the playground, mint-green backgrounds signifying Oliver’s flight into fancy slowly grow larger until they take up entire spreads; Oliver’s creature, white and dinosaurlike with orange polka dots, grows larger with them. Their adventures include sharing treats, sailing the seas and going into outer space. A classmate’s yell brings him back to reality, where readers see him sitting on top of a rock. Even considering Schmid’s scribbly style, readers can almost see the wheels turning in his head as he ponders the girl and whether or not to give up his solitary play. “But when Oliver found his rock… // Oliver imagined many adventures // with all his friends!” This last is on a double gatefold that opens to show the children enjoying the creature’s slippery curves. A final wordless spread depicts all the children sitting on rocks, expressions gleeful, wondering, waiting, hopeful. The illustrations, done in pastel pencil and digital color, again make masterful use of white space and page turns, although this tale is not nearly as funny or tongue-in-cheek as Oliver and His Alligator (2013), nor is its message as clear and immediately accessible to children.
Still, this young boy’s imagination is a powerful force for helping him deal with life, something that should be true for all children but sadly isn’t. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: July 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-7573-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014
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An expanded explanation of love in both English and Spanish.
Several animal personalities pose the question, “What is love?” and in a series of lift-the-flap responses present various emotional scenarios. Little Elephant asks Spider, “Is it the joy of having you around?” Spider asks, “Is it the way you lift me when I’m down?” Each page corresponds to a flap that reveals one of a multitude of feelings love can evoke in either an English or Spanish rhyme, which are not direct translations of each other. An interspersed refrain notes, “Amor for the Spanish, / and love en inglés. / Love in any language / always means the same.” A palette of pastels and purple and pink hues dominate as hearts abound on each page, surrounding the characters, who are adorable though on the overly sweet side. The characters are from the bilingual preschool series Canticos, though it will work even among those without knowledge of the show. Children more fluent in Spanish will be better able to appreciate this, and those familiar with the show will recognize the signature characters, including “Los Pollitos” (Little Chickies). (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A testament to the universality of love. (Board book. 3-6)Pub Date: Nov. 8, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-945635-72-4
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
Categories: CHILDREN'S POETRY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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