The title sounds fun, but this story of a disconsolate goose that wants a child has a somewhat sad underpinning. Readers will recognize the characters from earlier, funny visits to Miss Rosemary’s farm (The Pig Who Ran a Red Light, 1999, etc.). In this one, Magnolia the goose tries to get her message across by dragging a toy duck by a string or attempting to hatch Easter eggs, or to nurture baby chickens. When her owner, Miss Rosemary, finally catches on that Magnolia wants to become a mother, her only advice is, “That sort of thing happens in its own good time,” hoping that will be the end of it. Magnolia, however, becomes so dispirited that she hides in the barn refusing food—even her favorite blueberry pie. In a bright spot, Miss Rosemary dresses the pig and the cow in baby bonnets and duck beaks, but to no avail. Magnolia doesn’t find happiness again until the circus leaves town without their baby elephant. The perpetually puzzled Miss Rosemary says “Chicks go with chickens and goslings go with geese.” This is immediately disproved, of course, by the joyful and mutual adoption of elephant and goose. Though Magnolia seems lonely and pathetic at times, she does express her fervent desire to be a mother. A good story for adopted children, it illustrates that families are comprised of all types, and love isn’t particular as to whether you’re gray and leathery or white and feathery. The artwork is sure-handed, painted in mellow tones, and the best part all around. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: April 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-531-30317-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2001
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories.
Kids know vegetables can be scary, but rarely are edible roots out to get someone. In this whimsical mock-horror tale, carrots nearly frighten the whiskers off Jasper Rabbit, an interloper at Crackenhopper Field.
Jasper loves carrots, especially those “free for the taking.” He pulls some in the morning, yanks out a few in the afternoon, and comes again at night to rip out more. Reynolds builds delicious suspense with succinct language that allows understatements to be fully exploited in Brown’s hilarious illustrations. The cartoon pictures, executed in pencil and then digitally colored, are in various shades of gray and serve as a perfectly gloomy backdrop for the vegetables’ eerie orange on each page. “Jasper couldn’t get enough carrots … / … until they started following him.” The plot intensifies as Jasper not only begins to hear the veggies nearby, but also begins to see them everywhere. Initially, young readers will wonder if this is all a product of Jasper’s imagination. Was it a few snarling carrots or just some bathing items peeking out from behind the shower curtain? The ending truly satisfies both readers and the book’s characters alike. And a lesson on greed goes down like honey instead of a forkful of spinach.
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0297-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
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