An amusing, animated, charming tale for fledgling naturalists.
A little girl with a fondness for chorus frogs discovers how elusive they can be.
Lying in her frog-themed bedroom at night, Lilliana loves listening to the chorus frogs singing outside. Like Lilliana, chorus frogs are very small, and they are tricky to locate when she searches for them. Spying the teeny frogs hiding under leaves, she eventually traps them in a large jar and takes them inside, where she places them in a flat box covered with chicken wire. Before Lilliana realizes it, however, the fast-moving, tiny frogs escape. Suddenly, to her parents’ dismay, chorus frogs are croaking loudly and jumping around everywhere. The spare text reiterates how small, hard to catch, and loud chorus frogs can be, so readers will be surprised to discover how Lilliana solves her dilemma. Drawn loosely in squiggly, energetic black outlines washed with fluid greens, blues, yellows, and tans, the lively, detailed illustrations will delight and invite readers to join Lilliana’s search, indoors and outdoors, for the wily, wee chorus frogs. Double-page aerial views reveal Lilliana’s diminutive, red-haired, frog-loving, wellie-wearing figure scouring woods and fields with her companion dachshund as she learns an important lesson in natural animal habitats. Endpapers reveal the chorus frog’s life cycle, and an author’s note adds personal perspective. Lilliana’s mom presents White, and her dad has brown skin and dark hair; Lilliana herself has pale skin and her mom’s red hair.
An amusing, animated, charming tale for fledgling naturalists. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-55017-934-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harbour Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
Children who love dogs will find this amusing the first time through, but the humor palls quickly.
In rhyming text, a bug-eyed pug named Pig stubbornly refuses to share with the almost equally bug-eyed Trevor, the “wiener dog” he lives with—and soon gets his comeuppance.
The book begins showing the eponymous dog astride a large, red bowl of dog food, tongue hanging out and all four paws gripping the bowl. It perfectly matches the text: “Pig was a Pug / and I’m sorry to say, / he was greedy and selfish / in most every way.” A bit of humor comes through when the text plays on the adage about pigs by reminding readers that “pugs cannot fly.” However, most of the text is composed of trite, tired rhymes. The ending is a punch line whose funny picture will have little ones giggling. However, the ultimate “lesson” is a rather dark cynicism, more appropriate to children older than the age suggested by the rhymes, the art, and even the publisher. There may be some vicarious thrills for those who have witnessed excessive selfishness. The artwork is humorous, although Pig’s appearance is sometimes more grotesque than funny—particularly when he shouts at Trevor. Both male dogs’ facial expressions and body language add to the humor, and dog lovers will appreciate Pig’s array of colorful toys. Scansion is spotty, which should not happen in verses so dependent on rhythm and rhyme to entertain their young audience.
Children who love dogs will find this amusing the first time through, but the humor palls quickly. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Dec. 27, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-338-11245-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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