In this unexceptional bully tale, a wolf as “mean and cowardly as a dog at bath time” changes his ways after snatching a box from a cute little lamb in a pink coat, and discovering the literal truth of her claim that it contains a beautiful crown guarded by “the scariest, hairiest monster you could possibly imagine.” Gormley pads out the tale, first by having the wolf trail the oblivious lamb up and then back down a mountain through thorny thickets, falling rocks and deep snow to no particular purpose—then by adding an ensuing chase over the same ground after the monster rears up. In Chapman’s illustrations, the polka-dotted monster looks about as fierce as a Muppet, and the concluding scene of the wolf helpfully guiding his suddenly trusting former victims through the mountains is similarly unconvincing. More perceptive, or at least satisfying for the beleaguered, takes on the theme abound, like Elise Broach’s Cousin John Is Coming! (June 2006), illustrated by Nate Lilly. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-7641-5939-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Barron's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
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