A broadly beaming black-and-white cat with yellow, lamp-like eyes takes center stage as her adoring owner, a little girl, describes her growth: “When Coco was a kitten, she looked like a tiny ball of fluff. / … / Now Coco is a big, grown-up cat. / She can walk on a wall and not fall off,” and so on. With its board format, bright, solid-color backgrounds, simple compositions and direct, declarative text, this looks like a great toddler board book—but the narrator’s retrospective look at her kitten’s growth is a big concept for toddlers, who are only just beginning to grasp the notion that they are changing and growing themselves. For young preschoolers, it will be a good, brief lead-in to such standards as Margaret Miller’s Now I’m Big (1996). (Ages 3-4)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-935179-10-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Stylized art captures the life and seasons of a young teddy-bear-toting girl. When Mom wants her to walk quickly, she thinks of fast things and she is quick. When Mom—“or some other poke-along person”—wants her to walk slowly, she thinks of things that are slow: “trailing strings, elephants strolling.” Finally, the “tip-toe” person invokes quiet “and I’m sleepy.” While intended for younger listeners, older preschoolers can use their imaginations much like the little girl, drawing parallels with the simple actions she is asked to perform. Placement of people and objects make the viewer’s eye sweep the page from left to right, training young eyes for reading. Flowing movement of falling leaves, apple trees, and groups of bees point toward the serene little girl and mirror her thoughts. Though one never completely sees mother, her presence is strongly felt as a comforting tie to family and universe. Useful as the last book read at a storytime or at bedtime as the little girl’s fulfilling day comes to an end on a winter night. (Picture book. 3-4)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-694-01315-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A familiar story skillfully reimagined for today’s gadget-savvy youth.
Hannah Hadley is a young special agent who must thwart a clear and present danger to the United States in Hoover’s “smart is cool” young adult novel.
Hannah Hadley might seem like most 13-year-old girls. She enjoys painting, playing with her MP3 player and spending time with friends. But that’s where the similarities end. Hadley doubles as Agent 10-1, among the youngest spies drafted into the CIA’s Div Y department. She’s joined in her missions by her 10-pound Shih Tzu, Kiwi (with whom she communicates telepathically), and her best friend Tommie Claire, a blind girl with heightened senses. When duty calls, the group sneaks to a hidden command center located under the floor of Hadley’s art studio. Her current mission, aptly named “Operation Farmer Jones,” takes her to a secluded farmhouse in Canada. There, al-Qaida terrorists have gathered the necessary ingredients for a particularly devastating nuclear warhead that they intend to fire into America. The villains are joined by the Mad Madam of Mayhem, a physicist for hire whom the terrorists force to complete the weapon of mass destruction. With Charlie Higson’s Young James Bond series and the ongoing 39 Clues novellas, covert missions and secret plans are the plots of choice in much of today’s fiction for young readers, and references to the famed 007 stories abound in Hoover’s tale. But while the plot feels familiar, Hoover’s use of modern slang—albeit strained at times—and gadgets such as the iTouch appeal to today’s youth. Placing girls in adult situations has been a mainstay since Mildred Wirt Benson first introduced readers to Nancy Drew in The Secret of the Old Clock, but Hannah Hadley is like Nancy Drew on steroids. Both are athletic, score well in their studies and have a measure of popularity. Hadley, however, displays a genius-level intellect and near superhuman abilities in her efforts to roust the terrorists—handy skills for a young teen spy who just so happens to get the best grades in school.
A familiar story skillfully reimagined for today’s gadget-savvy youth.Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2010
ISBN: 978-0615419688
Page Count: 239
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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