An original pour quoi tale explaining why cats have the ability to purr, pleasing both themselves and their owners. The crafty feline in this story, Cat, is a lazy, mischievous sort who lives with Mother Holly, an incarnation of Mother Nature who has special responsibilities for all the creatures of the earth. While Mother Holly is tending to her business away from their cottage, Cat ignores his chores and disobeys the rules of the house, only to be met by mysterious forces of nature: an indoor rainstorm, whirling winds, flying popcorn, and a blizzard of both goose feathers and snowflakes. By the time he’s cleaned up all these natural disasters, the cottage is tidy except for one last unpopped kernel of corn, which he swallows in haste, causing that magical rumbling sound inside him, like thunder about to explode. Alexander’s (Gypsy Riska, 1999. etc) story has the ring of a traditional tale, but it’s Schachner’s (The Grannyman, 1999, etc.) bold illustrations that make Cat spring to life, with several double-page spreads of the cat pouncing, leaping, or standing on his head. The oversized format and lively story line make this a fine read-aloud for a group, although there are also tiny hidden details (including a pair of miniature trouble-making mice and a portrait of Alexander on the wall) that will reward those who read the book one-on-one with a child. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-525-46449-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
