Exceptional, exhilarating artwork perfectly suited for a story about anticipation, discovery and joy. (Picture book. 2-6)
Maurice, a little bear, can’t wait to experience his first spring, so while Mama hibernates, he goes looking for it.
Even though woodland friends Squirrel, Rabbit, Deer and Robin tell him it isn’t quite time yet, Maurice soon mistakes falling snow’s icy beauty for springtime. Cut-paper collages, enlivened by subtly placed ephemera, create manifold, bafflingly luminous and engaging illustrations. Photographed and reproduced to fill every double-page spread in this immensely pleasurable seasonal story, they offer a sense of continuum (perfect for a tale of cyclical change), luxuriant space and a wonderfully immersive reading experience. Snippets of newsprint, handwriting, lined composition paper, faded letters and old books simply beg for scrutiny. Cut-paper forms, the raised edges of which cast little shadows within the collages, challenge two-dimensionality and enchant readers. Petals, tree trunks, evergreen boughs and berry bushes appear as sculptural shapes, multidimensional and magical, bestowing on young children the same pleasurably disorienting and dazzling confusion the little bear feels when holding his first ice crystal. Maurice awakes to find his red scarf wet from the snowball he hoped to save, a sweet wink to Peter and his Snowy Day, but he also finds spring itself in all its budded, bountiful, glory.
Exceptional, exhilarating artwork perfectly suited for a story about anticipation, discovery and joy. (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-225019-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
Beloved Little Blue takes a bit of the mystery—and fear—out of Halloween costumes.
A lift-the-flap book gives the littlest trick-or-treaters some practice identifying partygoers under their costumes.
Little Blue Truck and his buddy Toad are off to a party, and they invite readers (and a black cat) along for the ride: “ ‘Beep! Beep! Beep!’ / says Little Blue. / ‘It’s Halloween!’ / You come, too.” As they drive, they are surprised (and joined) by many of their friends in costume. “Who’s that in a tutu / striking a pose / up on the tiniest / tips of her toes? / Under the mask / who do you see?” Lifting the flap unmasks a friend: “ ‘Quack!’ says the duck. / ‘It’s me! It’s me!’ ” The sheep is disguised as a clown, the cow’s a queen, the pig’s a witch, the hen and her chick are pirates, and the horse is a dragon. Not to be left out, Little Blue has a costume, too. The flaps are large and sturdy, and enough of the animals’ characteristic features are visible under and around the costumes that little ones will be able to make successful guesses even on the first reading. Lovely curvy shapes and autumn colors fade to dusky blues as night falls, and children are sure to notice the traditional elements of a Halloween party: apple bobbing, lit jack-o’-lanterns, and punch and treats.
Beloved Little Blue takes a bit of the mystery—and fear—out of Halloween costumes. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: July 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-544-77253-3
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
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