Digger-obsessed children will be enthralled, though others may easily pass on this one-note dog.
Digger Dog is obsessed with finding buried bones, but will he be able to dig up the world’s largest?
His nose finds the bones, and a shovel usually works to dig them up. But this time, a shovel just doesn’t cut it. Neither do a little digger, a bigger digger or a much bigger digger (depicted as a series of ever-larger backhoes). Luckily, Digger Dog has access to the biggest digger in the whole world (so large it needs a foldout of the entire two-page spread to encompass it all). And while the bone may not require the similarly large final foldout spread, what lies beneath it does. But will Digger Dog find it? Throughout, two helpers, a rabbit and a mouse, cheer him on and supply the orange cones, construction signs and tape that mark this as a digging site. Johansson’s mixed-media illustrations keep the focus on Digger Dog and his workers, their action playing out against a white background and on top of bright ground that is filled with circle patterns, the exposed dirt receiving a color and pattern all its own. With lots of repetition and mostly simple vocabulary, this is suitable for those children moving beyond the early-reader stage, though the lack of a real story may disappoint.
Digger-obsessed children will be enthralled, though others may easily pass on this one-note dog. (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: April 22, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6162-5
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2014
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
Mr. Fish’s fans can chase away any holiday “dreary-wearies” with this latest entry in the series, though it’s more likely to...
The perennially popular pout-pout fish is back with a new problem: how to find perfect gifts for all his friends.
Mr. Fish wears a “yuletide pout” in this holiday season because of his extensive shopping expectations. He wants his gifts to have “bling-zing,” to be big, bright, and perfect, “guaranteed to bring delight.” He shops till he plops but leaves the mall empty-handed “in a bout of pout-doubt.” His wise friend Miss Shimmer saves the day, with lots of craft supplies and advice about how to make his own presents “with his very own fins!” Mr. Fish finds that his simple, handmade gifts do meet his high expectations and that the camaraderie and goodwill shared with friends are the really meaningful gifts of the season. In addition to the wordplay, the text offers a calming, sensible approach to holiday gift giving with reinforcement of the value of handmade gifts. Hanna’s detailed illustrations of Mr. Fish’s watery world are filled with funny details, as when the sea creatures all hold one another’s tentacles as they celebrate the holiday. A holiday highlight is the arrival of Manta Claus, pulled in his sleigh by sea horses, of course.
Mr. Fish’s fans can chase away any holiday “dreary-wearies” with this latest entry in the series, though it’s more likely to be adults who face the holiday shopping quandary than children. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-374-35549-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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