In a set of surreal, mostly epistolary vignettes, Elephant begs permission to stand on Snail’s house (Snail politely declines), Crow writes a gloomy letter to Sparrow and gets a heartening response, Carp pens a prayer addressed: “Dear Stranger,” Squirrel writes to his table and also to the very letter he’s writing and on the last day of the year all of the animals get together to send a “cordial begging letter” to the sun, who answers “See you soon.” It’s hard to know what young readers will make of these and the other dozen or so exchanges; the prose has an introspective, dreamlike quality, but unlike Tellegen’s Squirrel’s Birthday and Other Parties (2009), there’s no clear linking theme to compensate for the lack of a plot arc or line, and the characters are etched in low relief at best. The author has been popular in the Netherlands for many years, but this outing is unlikely to extend the borders of his fan base. Illustrations not seen. (Belles lettres. 9-11)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-906250-95-9
Page Count: 156
Publisher: Boxer Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2009
Baker (Big Fat Hen, 1994, etc.) engages in more number play, posing ducklings in every combination of groups, e.g., “Splashing as they leap and dive/7 ducklings, 2 plus 5.” Using a great array of streaked and dappled papers, Baker creates a series of leafy collage scenes for the noisy, exuberant ducklings to fill, tucking in an occasional ladybug or other small creature for sharp-eyed pre-readers to spot. Children will regretfully wave goodbye as the ducks fly off in neat formation at the end of this brief, painless introduction to several basic math concepts. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-292858-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
A-mew-sing fare for readers who sometimes feel like fraidycats themselves.
Two shelter cats take on a mysterious puss with weird powers who is terrorizing the feline community.
Hardly have timorous (and aptly named) Poop and her sophisticated buddy, Pasha, been brought home by their new “human beans” for a two-week trial than they are accosted by fiery-eyed Scaredy Cat, utterly trashing the kitchen with a click of his claws and, hissing that he’s in charge of the neighborhood, threatening that if they don’t act like proper cats—disdaining ordinary cat food and any summons (they are not dogs, after all), clawing the furniture instead of the scratching post, and showing like “cattitude”—it’ll be back to the shelter for them. Will Poop and Pasha prove to be fraidycats or flee to the cowed clowder of homeless cats hiding from the bully in the nearby woods? Nope, they are made of sterner stuff and resolutely set out to enlist feline allies in a “quest for life, liberty, and the pursuit of purrs!” Cast into a gazillion very short chapters related by furry narrators Poop and Pasha, who are helpfully depicted in portrait vignettes by Herzog at each chapter’s head, the ensuing adventures test the defiant kitties’ courage (and, in some cases, attention spans) on the way to a spooky but poignant climax set, appropriately enough as it happens, in a pet graveyard.
A-mew-sing fare for readers who sometimes feel like fraidycats themselves. (Adventure. 9-11)Pub Date: March 15, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-316-49443-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
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