Reading, writing, listening, helping, thanking: Bear and his animal friends can inspire young readers in family, school, or...
Bear is a great reader, but when he wants to write his own book, he suffers from a common malady: writer’s block.
He tries to find ideas by engaging in his favorite activities. First he tries to find a tree he can scratch his back on, but Mouse asks him for help with his dancing. Then he goes for a swim in the river—but there, he’s enlisted to help tow Rabbit’s boat back to the riverbank. Finally, he tries climbing a tall tree, but a baby owl needs rescuing. Frustrated, he returns to his house for lunch. Sitting at his little table with its blue gingham tablecloth, he tries again to write a story like his favorites, which have “exciting beginnings, dramatic middles, and happy-ever-after endings.” The ideas start to percolate. Bear writes and draws his own wonderful story to share when his good friends come around with a gift to thank him for his assistance. Presented as a gatefold, with antiqued paper and scrollwork borders, Bear’s opus is a special pirate story starring all the animals that Bear met that morning. The theme of friendship is matched by the warm, cozy feeling of the mixed-media illustrations. Bear’s helpfulness and his budding creativity make him a positive role model.
Reading, writing, listening, helping, thanking: Bear and his animal friends can inspire young readers in family, school, or library settings. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0571-8
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Templar/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Gently models kindness and respect—positive behavior that can be applied daily.
A group of young “dinosauruses” go out into the world on their own.
A fuchsia little Hugasaurus and her Pappysaur (both of whom resemble Triceratops) have never been apart before, but Hugasaurus happily heads off with lunchbox in hand and “wonder in her heart” to make new friends. The story has a first-day-of-school feeling, but Hugasaurus doesn’t end up in a formal school environment; rather, she finds herself on a playground with other little prehistoric creatures, though no teacher or adult seems to be around. At first, the new friends laugh and play. But Hugasaurus’ pals begin to squabble, and play comes to a halt. As she wonders what to do, a fuzzy platypus playmate asks some wise questions (“What…would your Pappy say to do? / What makes YOU feel better?”), and Hugasaurus decides to give everyone a hug—though she remembers to ask permission first. Slowly, good humor is restored and play begins anew with promises to be slow to anger and, in general, to help create a kinder world. Short rhyming verses occasionally use near rhyme but also include fun pairs like ripples and double-triples. Featuring cozy illustrations of brightly colored creatures, the tale sends a strong message about appropriate and inappropriate ways to resolve conflict, the final pages restating the lesson plainly in a refrain that could become a classroom motto. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Gently models kindness and respect—positive behavior that can be applied daily. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-82869-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
A straightforward tale of conflict and reconciliation for newly emergent readers? Not exactly, which raises it above the...
In this deceptively spare, very beginning reader, a girl assembles a robot and then treats it like a slave until it goes on strike.
Having put the robot together from a jumble of loose parts, the budding engineer issues an increasingly peremptory series of rhymed orders— “Throw, Bot. / Row, Bot”—that turn from playful activities like chasing bubbles in the yard to tasks like hoeing the garden, mowing the lawn and towing her around in a wagon. Jung crafts a robot with riveted edges, big googly eyes and a smile that turns down in stages to a scowl as the work is piled on. At last, the exhausted robot plops itself down, then in response to its tormentor’s angry “Don’t say no, Bot!” stomps off in a huff. In one to four spacious, sequential panels per spread, Jung develops both the plotline and the emotional conflict using smoothly modeled cartoon figures against monochromatic or minimally detailed backgrounds. The child’s commands, confined in small dialogue balloons, are rhymed until her repentant “Come on home, Bot” breaks the pattern but leads to a more equitable division of labor at the end.
A straightforward tale of conflict and reconciliation for newly emergent readers? Not exactly, which raises it above the rest. (Easy reader. 4-6)Pub Date: June 25, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-375-87083-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
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