Curiosity and ingenuity in a mild fall mystery.
A group of animals discovers a large, round, orange object with a green stem and begins to question and surmise its usefulness and possibilities.
Squirrel and Field Mouse push it out of the way, and it rolls to a stop where Opossum is napping. Opossum thinks it makes a rather comfortable chair. Raccoon is sure it is a table to support a plate of cookies. Soon others join in to enjoy the cookies and cider, which Opossum contributes. While the impromptu party is in full swing, Woodchuck explains the object would make a good doorstop. As day turns to night, Skunk professes that it’s really a lamp and demonstrates how to carve it out and place a candle inside the now-smiling face. The pulp and seeds are then used for pie and roasting, which everyone snacks on till they hunker down for winter. When they emerge in the newly verdant spring, they discover a plant that produces a flower, which then becomes an orange, round object and…it’s party time again. These unclothed but otherwise anthropomorphic cartoon creatures never actually say the name of this autumn gourd, leaving it to kids to express the obvious, only acknowledged in the title. The somewhat lengthy text spins out its premise deliberately, and kids who know very well that it’s a pumpkin and what a pumpkin is for may tire of the speculation, but the community interactions are charming to watch.
Curiosity and ingenuity in a mild fall mystery. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8075-1216-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
A particularly soppy, sloppy addition to an already-overstuffed genre.
A bear cub gets a load of lyrical loving from a lumbering parent in this nature walk.
Expressed in stumbling rhyme—“I love you more than trees / love to change with every season. / I love you more than anything. / I cannot name just one reason”—Benson’s perfervid sentiments accompany scenes of bear and cub strolling through stands of birch, splashing into a river to watch (just watch) fish, and, in a final moonlit scene, cuddling beneath starry skies. Foxes, otters, and other animal parents and offspring, likewise adoring, make foreground cameos along the way in Lambert’s neatly composed paper-collage–style illustrations. Since the bears are obvious stand-ins for humans (the cub even points at things and in most views is posed on two legs), the gender ambiguity in both writing and art allow human readers some latitude in drawing personal connections, but that’s not enough to distinguish this uninspired effort among the teeming swarm of “I Love You This Much!” titles.
A particularly soppy, sloppy addition to an already-overstuffed genre. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-68010-022-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
A worthwhile message that just doesn't quite fly.
A sadly lackluster paean to the premise that “no two snowflakes are alike, / almost, almost… / but not quite.”
Beginning with snowflakes, Baker then branches out to celebrate the uniqueness of other things, some found in nature, some manmade—nests, branches, leaves and forests. “No two fences, long and low, / no two roads—where do they go? / No two bridges, wood or stone, / no two houses— / anyone home?” His ultimate message, arrived at on almost the final page, is that every living thing is one of a kind. While it is certainly an important message, the very young may not make the leap from the animals and things that populate the book to humans, which make no appearance. Baker’s digital illustrations fill the spreads with simple shapes and soft, woodsy colors. The two red birds (rather like crestless cardinals) that fly through this wintry wonderland steal the show. Their expressions are adorable, their antics endearing and rather anthropomorphic—one skis, while the other tries to pelt a fox with snowballs. But they may not be enough to carry the flat text and lack of a story line. Indeed, the book depends on the rhymes and the cute birds to keep the pages turning.
A worthwhile message that just doesn't quite fly. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4424-1742-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2011
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