An unusual story based on fact carries a richly satisfying message. Day after day a bear is forced to dance for the people filling the crowded square. Made to submit by the presence of the iron ring piercing her nose and the cruelty of her owner, she retreats each night into her own mind to dream of a different life, one full of babies, cool streams, and endless fields. People watch, stunned to see the beautiful bear dancing on her hind legs, head swinging from side to side as the chain tethered to her nose pulls her around. One evening, as they return from another day full of humiliation and pain, an old man stops the cruel master and asks to buy her. Agreeing to a steep price, he leads the bear to his home and sets her free to live the rest of her days in comfort. However, the cruel master soon finds another means of entertaining the crowds. He has captured another bear, this time a cub. Again, the old man offers all that he has to save the animal. Finally, humbled by the man’s devotion, the townspeople join him and demand that the cub be freed. Together the bear and the cub can finally live the dreams that have kept the bear alive for so long. Illustrations rendered in what appear to be pastels on textured paper capture the scenes of a Turkish market and its denizens. A postscript by the author explains her passion for this issue and provides information on how to join the activism for saving the dancing bears and other abused animals. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 2003
ISBN: 1-929132-41-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
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
Turkey’s in the “kind of trouble where it’s almost Thanksgiving...and you’re the main course.” Accordingly, Turkey tries on disguise after disguise, from horse to cow to pig to sheep, at each iteration being told that he looks nothing like the animal he’s trying to mimic (which is quite true, as Harper’s quirky watercolors make crystal clear). He desperately squeezes a red rubber glove onto his head to pass as a rooster, only to overhear the farmer suggest a poultry plan B when he’s unable to turn up the turkey. Turkey’s horrified expression as he stands among the peppers and tomatoes—in November? Chalk it up to artistic license—is priceless, but his surroundings give him an idea. Good fun, but it may lead to a vegetarian table or two. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-7614-5529-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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