Bear’s hilarious adventure begs for multiple readings.
Bear happily gathers mouthwatering foods from a park’s visitors until he realizes the moon wants his feast.
To sooth his growling belly, Bear dances around a forested park in search of a meal. He’s thrilled by the berries, honey, and fish that he forages, but Bear is most elated by the marshmallows and sausage he frees from ice chests belonging to the humans. Round and full, Moon brightens the night sky during Bear’s spree—clearly Moon has an eye on Bear’s goodies. Protective of his feast, Bear runs and hides from Moon. When he finally escapes Moon’s bright light, Bear has a change of heart and shares his picnic with those around him, a multiethnic and multispecies gathering. Farrell evokes the emotional valleys of a chase scene when Bear’s hungry excitement evolves into anxiety as he tries to avoid Moon’s gaze. Farrell’s conservative use of color in his pencil-and-digital artwork allows Bear’s brown fur and comical actions to pop in each scene. Each page deserves careful study so as not to miss the wacky reactions from animals and humans alike; as the only text is Bear’s increasingly paranoid exclamations, there is much to interpret. Young readers who grasp the concept that the moon does not actually follow them will be entertained by Bear’s antics. Not only will Bear make readers laugh out loud, but he illustrates how sharing can build a community.
Bear’s hilarious adventure begs for multiple readings. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8037-4159-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2016
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
A sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends.
Is it a stormy-night scare or a bedtime book? Both!
Little Blue Truck and his good friend Toad are heading home when a storm lets loose. Before long, their familiar, now very nervous barnyard friends (Goat, Hen, Goose, Cow, Duck, and Pig) squeeze into the garage. Blue explains that “clouds bump and tumble in the sky, / but here inside we’re warm and dry, / and all the thirsty plants below / will get a drink to help them grow!” The friends begin to relax. “Duck said, loud as he could quack it, / ‘THUNDER’S JUST A NOISY RACKET!’ ” In the quiet after the storm, the barnyard friends are sleepy, but the garage is not their home. “ ‘Beep!’ said Blue. ‘Just hop inside. / All aboard for the bedtime ride!’ ” Young readers will settle down for their own bedtimes as Blue and Toad drop each friend at home and bid them a good night before returning to the garage and their own beds. “Blue gave one small sleepy ‘Beep.’ / Then Little Blue Truck fell fast asleep.” Joseph’s rich nighttime-blue illustrations (done “in the style of [series co-creator] Jill McElmurry”) highlight the power of the storm and capture the still serenity that follows. Little Blue Truck has been chugging along since 2008, but there seems to be plenty of gas left in the tank.
A sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-328-85213-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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