Readers will appreciate seeing the good things that come to those who wait, watch, and water.
What could be a better gift for a wee mouse than a mysterious gift that promises both something delicious to eat and branches to climb and play on?
It's Luke's birthday—Luke being a little mouse standing on a soft, grassy hill, waving at his friends as they arrive at his party. Then his bespectacled grandfather gives him a gift: a small orange bag, full, disappointingly, of “just seeds.” But his grandfather promises that if Luke takes care of them, the gift will provide a tasty treat and a botanical jungle gym. They plant the seeds, but like every small child (or mouse), Luke is disappointed when he doesn't see speedy results. Grandfather counsels patience. Finally, up grows a small, strong shoot, and Luke sits over it, enchanted, as if a new friend has magically appeared. The story quickens; Luke forgets to water the plant, and it nearly dies; when, one day, Luke is sick in bed, his curious friends happily fill in for him. The soft pastel watercolors beautifully capture the world from a mouse’s-eye view, and the mice are irresistible, with their big ears, little hands and feet, and eyes that shine like tiny marbles. Towering, fluffy white dandelions stand like watchful and eager spectators.
Readers will appreciate seeing the good things that come to those who wait, watch, and water. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-988-8240-94-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: minedition
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
Just the thing for anyone with a Grinch-y tree of their own in the yard.
A grouchy sapling on a Christmas tree farm finds that there are better things than lights and decorations for its branches.
A Grinch among the other trees on the farm is determined never to become a sappy Christmas tree—and never to leave its spot. Its determination makes it so: It grows gnarled and twisted and needle-less. As time passes, the farm is swallowed by the suburbs. The neighborhood kids dare one another to climb the scary, grumpy-looking tree, and soon, they are using its branches for their imaginative play, the tree serving as a pirate ship, a fort, a spaceship, and a dragon. But in winter, the tree stands alone and feels bereft and lonely for the first time ever, and it can’t look away from the decorated tree inside the house next to its lot. When some parents threaten to cut the “horrible” tree down, the tree thinks, “Not now that my limbs are full of happy children,” showing how far it has come. Happily for the tree, the children won’t give up so easily, and though the tree never wished to become a Christmas tree, it’s perfectly content being a “trick or tree.” Martinez’s digital illustrations play up the humorous dichotomy between the happy, aspiring Christmas trees (and their shoppers) and the grumpy tree, and the diverse humans are satisfyingly expressive.
Just the thing for anyone with a Grinch-y tree of their own in the yard. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-7335-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Parent-child love and affection, appealingly presented, with the added attraction of the seasonal content and lack of gender...
A polar-bear parent speaks poetically of love for a child.
A genderless adult and cub travel through the landscapes of an arctic year. Each of the softly rendered double-page paintings has a very different feel and color palette as the pair go through the seasons, walking through wintry ice and snow and green summer meadows, cavorting in the blue ocean, watching whales, and playing beside musk oxen. The rhymes of the four-line stanzas are not forced, as is the case too often in picture books of this type: “When cold, winter winds / blow the leaves far and wide, / You’ll cross the great icebergs / with me by your side.” On a dark, snowy night, the loving parent says: “But for now, cuddle close / while the stars softly shine. // I’ll always be yours, / and you’ll always be mine.” As the last illustration shows the pair curled up for sleep, young listeners will be lulled to sweet dreams by the calm tenor of the pictures and the words. While far from original, this timeless theme is always in demand, and the combination of delightful illustrations and poetry that scans well make this a good choice for early-childhood classrooms, public libraries, and one-on-one home read-alouds.
Parent-child love and affection, appealingly presented, with the added attraction of the seasonal content and lack of gender restrictions. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68010-070-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
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