A perky, visually appealing addition to the counting-book category.
Seven frogs lose their perch in a tree but find their way back as evening falls.
In this debut picture book, written with gentle humor, children can practice counting as one little tree frog, sitting alone on a leafy branch, happily greets a second and then welcomes another and another. Lap sitters and early readers will no doubt anticipate the outcome when the fifth frog appears and the branch begins “to bend.” When seven clowning frogs crowd together, the branch cracks under their combined weight, sending them to the grass below. Chaos reigns as the amphibians hop every which way until the wise, first tree frog suggests that they collaborate to get back home. Their teamwork pays off. When night falls, all seven frogs are back in their tree, each on “his own little twig,” peacefully asleep. Carroll’s rhyming text offers children a clear, simple narrative, albeit with a somewhat forced bounce (“Then there were seven little tree frogs / Hopping in the grass. / This way and that way, / In circles they would pass”). The color illustrations reflect the whimsical story and contribute professional polish, with full-page renderings of the smiley-faced green amphibians perched in a pretty, leafy tree; hopping about in the grass; and sleeping under a starry sky. Each frog wears a different-colored T-shirt, with one sporting a baseball cap, one strumming a guitar, one with a jump-rope, and another holding a hoop.
A perky, visually appealing addition to the counting-book category.Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-578-22269-1
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Lulu
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A nice but not requisite purchase.
A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.
Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.
A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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