A sweetly anthropomorphic Rhino family learns to appreciate their child’s unique interests through surprising support from an unexpected source. Bud Sweet-William is a mystery to his staid parents. They are “proper, sensible” and preternaturally neat. Bud has adored dirt since he was a toddler. While they prefer tidy silk flower arrangements and counsel Bud to color inside the lines, the ebullient Bud likes to “cut loose” when he paints. He is happiest digging, composting, and growing a backyard garden and reveling in the growing jungle of indoor plants that are rapidly over-running his room. Carefully cultivated family equilibrium is soon threatened by a visit from Bud’s paternal grandfather—a neatnick of the first order. How to keep Grandfather away from and unaware of Bud’s gardening? Upon arrival, Grandfather takes charge. He gives the house a thorough cleaning and reorganizing (even the canned goods in alphabetical order). A violent overnight thunderstorm wreaks havoc in Bud’s garden. When grandfather and grandson survey the remains the next morning, Bud learns that far from being dismayed, Grandfather is instead impressed with the garden and organizes its cleanup. Author-illustrator O’Malley’s (Leo Cockroach . . . Toy Tester, not reviewed, etc.) well-sized, sweet-natured, cartoony watercolors are full of the right kid pleasing details that add to the low-key fun. A delightful springboard for budding gardeners and an opportunity to share their enthusiasm with family and friends. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-8027-8718-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2000
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
At her best, Rylant’s (The Ticky-Tacky Doll, below, etc.) sweetness and sentiment fills the heart; in this outing, however, sentimentality reigns and the end result is pretty gooey. Pandora keeps a lighthouse: her destiny is to protect ships at sea. She’s lonely, but loves her work. She rescues Seabold and heals his broken leg, and he stays on to mend his shipwrecked boat. This wouldn’t be so bad but Pandora’s a cat and Seabold a dog, although they are anthropomorphized to the max. Then the duo rescue three siblings—mice!—and make a family together, although Rylant is careful to note that Pandora and Seabold each have their own room. Choosing what you love, caring for others, making a family out of love, it is all very well, but this capsizes into silliness. Formatted to look like the start of a new series. Oh, dear. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-689-84880-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2002
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