A beautiful look at the wonder of creativity and self-expression. Not to be missed!
A charming picture book from one of Cameroon’s leading children’s authors reminds readers that small things can hold great power.
Leo, a young leopard, receives a pen as a birthday gift from his father. Dad tells him that “there are all sorts of beautiful things inside your pen,” but Leo has no idea how to get them out. So, he and his lizard friend set off to find someone who can help. They ask Leo’s big sister, but all she can get out of the pen is ink. They ask Coco-Tembo, a hen neighbor who is skeptical that beautiful things can hide in such a tiny object; and a giraffe friend who thinks the pen would be better put to use as a flute. Leo and the lizard are finally enlightened by Leo’s mother, who tells them that “all the words in the world” can be found in the pen. Leo writes all the words he knows, then tries his hand at drawing, and “soon the whole world is coming out of his pen!” The story ends rather abruptly yet is lovely nonetheless. The real highlight is Renon’s exquisite artwork, which is softly colorful, presenting elegant scenes of lush forest flora and fauna and dainty, fashionably dressed animal characters. Younger children will have fun locating the various forest creatures in the artwork. The images will be easy to see from a distance during a read-aloud, but the font size is unusually small. The Gift is Dzotap’s first book published in English.
A beautiful look at the wonder of creativity and self-expression. Not to be missed! (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5583-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2022
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers.
Echoing the meter of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” Ward uses catchy original rhymes to describe the variety of nests birds create.
Each sweet stanza is complemented by a factual, engaging description of the nesting habits of each bird. Some of the notes are intriguing, such as the fact that the hummingbird uses flexible spider web to construct its cup-shaped nest so the nest will stretch as the chicks grow. An especially endearing nesting behavior is that of the emperor penguin, who, with unbelievable patience, incubates the egg between his tummy and his feet for up to 60 days. The author clearly feels a mission to impart her extensive knowledge of birds and bird behavior to the very young, and she’s found an appealing and attractive way to accomplish this. The simple rhymes on the left page of each spread, written from the young bird’s perspective, will appeal to younger children, and the notes on the right-hand page of each spread provide more complex factual information that will help parents answer further questions and satisfy the curiosity of older children. Jenkins’ accomplished collage illustrations of common bird species—woodpecker, hummingbird, cowbird, emperor penguin, eagle, owl, wren—as well as exotics, such as flamingoes and hornbills, are characteristically naturalistic and accurate in detail.
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers. (author’s note, further resources) (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2116-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
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