It’s carnival time in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and two tree frog siblings celebrate in their second outing. In each of three chapters, big brother Rafi indulges an interest while pulling a fast one over on Rosi. In the first, Rafi gains more time to create his carnival mask by encouraging Rosi to make a costume—since she’s sure to win the contest for carnival queen. Inspired, Rosi gets to it, and before Rafi realizes, she’s arrayed and off to the judge, only to find out that she’s underage. She’s crushed and Rafi, remorseful, decorates his old wagon as a carnival float. Now Rosi can be “queen for a day” in her very own parade. Delacre affectionately depicts the brief conflicts and abiding love between this busy duo, adding appealing watercolor illustrations. While Rafi is older and savvier, the verve with which Rosi approaches the panoply of childish emotions will jibe with kids fresh from such mastery themselves. Most Spanish words are seamlessly integrated, but the glossary’s specific cultural information will require an adult’s intercession, as will the appended activities. An appealing sequel. (Easy reader. 6-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-073597-X
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Rayo/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2006
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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