Sweet and pretty for bedtime or naptime—and validating to little ones all the time.
Is the little child who narrates the book too little for any fun?
This gentle tale goes straight to the heart of what upsets so many little ones: missing out on adventures because they are small and young. The beginning double-page spread shows three family members staring out over a full clothesline as the text reads: “This morning, Mama saw a deer. Dad and Sara saw it too.” The narrator missed the sight while struggling to get dressed. The child recounts other examples of recently missed opportunities, then heads outside with a lump of sugar, hoping to lure the deer. Gorgeous, masterful art in MacKay’s characteristic layered dioramas that combine drawn figures with cut, often diaphanous elements accompanies every page of spare but thoughtful text, as the child encounters other signs of nature—but no deer. When the narrator encounters the fawn of the title—“Little like me”—the two greet each other with their eyes before returning home to their respective mothers. The child looks about 3 years old and perhaps too young to be allowed a wilderness wander near protective animal mothers, but the soft and dreamy tone of the art and the text excuses the story from complete realism. The child’s response to Mama’s question at the end gives further empowerment to the child, who looks and listens while someone older reads this aloud. The family is an interracial one, with White-presenting father and Asian-presenting mother. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-16-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Sweet and pretty for bedtime or naptime—and validating to little ones all the time. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7352-6516-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
A funny tale about stress and an ever upping ante, with a comforting end.
Something is preventing Owl from falling asleep.
Owl leans back against his white pillow and headboard. “Squeek!” says something underneath the bed. Owl’s never heard that sound before, so he fastens his pink bathrobe and answers the front door. Nobody. It must be the wind; back to bed. Bidding himself goodnight, he climbs into bed—and hears the noise again. Time after time, he pops out of bed seeking the squeaker. Is it in the cupboard? He empties the shelves. Under the floor? He pulls up his floorboards. As Owl’s actions ratchet up—he destroys the roof and smashes the walls, all in search of the squeak—so does his anxiety. Not until he hunkers down in bed under the night sky (his bed is now outdoors, because the house’s roof and walls are gone), frantically clutching his pillow, does he see what readers have seen all along: a small, gray mouse. In simple illustrations with black outlines, textured coloring, and foreshortened perspective, Pizzoli plays mischievously with mouse placement. Sometimes the mouse is behind Owl or just out of his sightline; other times, the mouse is on a solid, orange-colored page across the spread from Owl, which removes him from Owl’s scene in a rather postmodern manner. Is the mouse toying with Owl? Who knows?
A funny tale about stress and an ever upping ante, with a comforting end. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4847-1275-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
Animated and educational.
A hare and a ground squirrel banter about the differences between related animals that are often confused for one another.
Jack is “no Flopsy, Mopsy, or Cottontail,” but a “H-A-R-E, hare!” Like sheep and goats, or turtles and tortoises, rabbits and hares may look similar, but hares are bigger, their fur changes color in the winter, and they are born with their eyes wide open. As the ground squirrel (not to be mistaken for a chipmunk (even though Jack cheekily calls it “Chippie”) and Jack engage in playful discussion about animals, a sneaky coyote prowls after them through the Sonoran Desert. This picture book conveys the full narrative in spirited, speech-bubbled dialogue set on expressive illustrations of talking animals. Dark outlines around the characters make their shapes pop against the softly blended colors of the desert backgrounds. Snappy back-and-forth paired with repetition and occasional rhyme enhances the story’s appeal as a read-aloud. As the story progresses, the colors of the sky shift from dawn to dusk, providing subtle, visual bookends for the narrative. One page of backmatter offers a quick guide to eight easily confused pairs, and a second turns a subsequent exploration of the book into a seek-and-find of 15 creatures (and one dessert) hidden in the desert. Unfortunately, while most of the creatures from the seek-and-find appear in poses that match the illustrations in the challenge, not all of them are consistently represented. (This book was reviewed digitally with 7-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 53.3% of actual size.)
Animated and educational. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-358-12506-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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