Keller’s (Jacob’s Tree, 1999, etc.) popular preschool character Horace returns in a sympathetic tale about impulsive childhood theft. Horace discovers a terrific orange truck on the playground and pockets it. When confronted by Walter, the truck’s owner, during class, Horace lies, telling their teacher that the truck belongs to him. Overcome with guilt but unwilling to relinquish his newfound treasure, Horace feigns an illness to stay home from school. From his classmates come a bevy of get-well notes, including a gracious one from Walter telling Horace to keep the toy until he is better. The next day Horace returns to school and voluntarily gives the truck back. Keller handles this sensitive but very common childhood issue with finesse. The continued loving affirmation of all the adults around him helps Horace to make the right choice. Some may take issue with the fact that there are no consequences for Horace beyond his own feelings of guilt, and Walter, the victim, is never given any support from their teacher. However, Horace—and the reader—learns the lesson so much better because his decision to return the truck comes from within and not because he is compelled to do so by an adult. Keller’s bright watercolors offer a varied landscape, alternately filling some pages completely and interspersed amongst the text on others. Her cheerful menagerie of animals—Horace is a leopard, Walter a tiger, and the teacher a zebra—amuse and engage as readers learn a vital lesson. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 31, 2000
ISBN: 0-688-17159-1
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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