Handsome illustrations and a colorful cover are not enough to make this title in the Young Discoveries Library a useful purchase. Odd—and not-so-odd—creatures are presented in spreads with large full-color glossy drawings, with one main paragraph each and several descriptive captions. The text is banal and adds little to understanding: ``Black rhinos puff like steam engines when they charge at their enemies,'' and ``Pacific hagfish can tie themselves into knots to wriggle out of an enemy's grasp.'' Unrelated animals are grouped together under headings such as ``Armed for Life'' (armadillos and turtles) and ``In the Air'' (the focus is on bats, but a squirrel glider is pictured because it ``does not have wings like a bat''). A howler monkey is paired with a troop of ring-tailed lemurs. The text for ``Tusks and Horns'' indicates that a rhinoceros has a horn made of keratin (which will grow back if cut off), a walrus has unusual teeth called tusks, two male narwhals may cross their tusks like swords, and a unicorn is an imaginary horse with a horn on its head. Intended for young children, this collection is more confusing than enlightening. (Nonfiction. 5-7)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-7835-4840-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1996
Emergent readers will like the humor in little Pip’s pointed requests, and more engaging adventures for Otto and Pip will be...
In his third beginning reader about Otto the robot, Milgrim (See Otto, 2002, etc.) introduces another new friend for Otto, a little mouse named Pip.
The simple plot involves a large balloon that Otto kindly shares with Pip after the mouse has a rather funny pointing attack. (Pip seems to be in that I-point-and-I-want-it phase common with one-year-olds.) The big purple balloon is large enough to carry Pip up and away over the clouds, until Pip runs into Zee the bee. (“Oops, there goes Pip.”) Otto flies a plane up to rescue Pip (“Hurry, Otto, Hurry”), but they crash (and splash) in front of some hippos with another big balloon, and the story ends as it begins, with a droll “See Pip point.” Milgrim again succeeds in the difficult challenge of creating a real, funny story with just a few simple words. His illustrations utilize lots of motion and basic geometric shapes with heavy black outlines, all against pastel backgrounds with text set in an extra-large typeface.
Emergent readers will like the humor in little Pip’s pointed requests, and more engaging adventures for Otto and Pip will be welcome additions to the limited selection of funny stories for children just beginning to read. (Easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-689-85116-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2003
Floyd and Denise update “The Tortoise and the Hare” for primary readers, captioning each soft-focus, semi-rural scene with a short, simple sentence or two. Rabbit proposes running to school, while his friend Turtle takes the bus: no contest at first, as the bus makes stop after deliberate stop, but because Rabbit pauses at a pushcart for a snack, a fresh-looking Turtle greets his panting, disheveled friend on the school steps. There is no explicit moral, but children will get the point—and go on to enjoy Margery Cuyler’s longer and wilder Road Signs: A Harey Race with a Tortoise (p. 957). (Easy reader. 5-7)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-15-202679-7
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2000
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