A fanciful tale that captures the joyful energy of budding youth.
It’s not just the flowers that bloom in spring.
Originally published in China, this tale greets readers with grassy meadows, bushy trees, and budding flowers. Cheng’s thin black lines give texture to the warm pastel color palette, resulting in an unaffected charm. Two unnamed children, both with brown hair and light skin, are observed exploring the landscapes while spare text punctuates each page. The narrative is deceptively simple. Initially the children wish to feel the wonder of spring as their floral counterparts do. “I want to s t r e t c h my hand / to the tip of the tree branch // And grow with the flower buds, showering in sunbeams.” The lyrical narrative gradually gives way to whimsy, describing fantastical desires “to cruise down the river in a lily-pad boat. / And adventure into the sea.” Here one child is shown rowing an oversized lily pad, directed by a striped frog as colorful fish greet them. Eventually the journey of the children parallels the rebirth of the season as the narrative ends with the declaration that “I want to be a flower, ready to bloom.” The only outlier in this springtime meditation is an expressed wish to go sledding on “miles of snow” surrounded by snowmen. This may seem confusing for some, depending on their geography, but it is a small price to pay. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11.375-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 79.7% of actual size.)
A fanciful tale that captures the joyful energy of budding youth. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 30, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4788-7039-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Reycraft Books
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Nothing riveting but serviceable enough.
Children are introduced to the concepts of sorting and classifying in this bedtime story.
It is getting close to bedtime, and Marco’s mother asks him to put his toys away. Marco—who thinks of himself as a scientist—corrects her: “You mean time to sort the animals.” And that’s what he proceeds to do. Marco sorts his animals into three baskets labeled “Flying Animals,” “Swimming Animals,” and “Animals That Move on Land,” but the animals will not sleep. So he sorts them by color: “Mostly Brown,” “Black and White,” and “Colors of the Rainbow,” but Zebra is upset to be separated from Giraffe. Next, Marco sorts his animals by size: “Small,” “Medium,” and “Large,” but the big animals are cramped and the small ones feel cold. Finally, Marco ranges them around his bed from biggest to smallest, thus providing them with space to move and helping them to feel safe. Everyone satisfied, they all go to sleep. While the plot is flimsy, the general idea that organizing and classifying can be accomplished in many different ways is clear. Young children are also presented with the concept that different classifications can lead to different results. The illustrations, while static, keep the focus clearly on the sorting taking place. Marco and his mother have brown skin. The backmatter includes an explanation of sorting in science and ideas for further activities.
Nothing riveting but serviceable enough. (Math picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-62354-128-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
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