Five ducklings could not be more excited over the hefty snowfall outside their windows. They grab their hats, coats, boots and skates; two are so wound up they can’t wait for the others and so run ahead. They all skate, have a great snowball fight, skate some more and head for home to dry off and have cocoa and cake before curling up in front of a fire. Berry’s first children’s book is a rambunctious, rhyming ode to the joys of group skates and winter fun. The text hides cagey little numbers lessons and reinforcements of the idea of pairs (of skates, boots, ducks). Nakata’s watercolor-and-ink paintings extend the exuberance of the rhyme. Her downy waterfowl slip, bounce, topple and slide across every illustration, some spot, others nearly full-bleed. Even though ducks seem to grace every picture book these days, this one’s a first purchase. Storytimers will have just one word for you when you finish this: AGAIN! (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-8050-7219-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2005
A funny tale about stress and an ever upping ante, with a comforting end.
Something is preventing Owl from falling asleep.
Owl leans back against his white pillow and headboard. “Squeek!” says something underneath the bed. Owl’s never heard that sound before, so he fastens his pink bathrobe and answers the front door. Nobody. It must be the wind; back to bed. Bidding himself goodnight, he climbs into bed—and hears the noise again. Time after time, he pops out of bed seeking the squeaker. Is it in the cupboard? He empties the shelves. Under the floor? He pulls up his floorboards. As Owl’s actions ratchet up—he destroys the roof and smashes the walls, all in search of the squeak—so does his anxiety. Not until he hunkers down in bed under the night sky (his bed is now outdoors, because the house’s roof and walls are gone), frantically clutching his pillow, does he see what readers have seen all along: a small, gray mouse. In simple illustrations with black outlines, textured coloring, and foreshortened perspective, Pizzoli plays mischievously with mouse placement. Sometimes the mouse is behind Owl or just out of his sightline; other times, the mouse is on a solid, orange-colored page across the spread from Owl, which removes him from Owl’s scene in a rather postmodern manner. Is the mouse toying with Owl? Who knows?
A funny tale about stress and an ever upping ante, with a comforting end. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4847-1275-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
A brother and sister participate in their Tae Kwon Do class in a most welcome addition to the Step into Reading series. This level-one title sports predominantly one-syllable, short vowel words in two-to-four-word sentences. Spirited images and mainly well-chosen action words in rhyme will hook little boys: “We count. We yell. We all kick well.” But the multicultural, coed students portrayed here, and the apparent accuracy of belt colors and class content, widen the applications. Bonita’s illustrations depict cheerful, cartoonish kids with shiny button noses, impossibly pudgy feet and thighs like enrobed sausages, but the sparring, jabbing and block-busting yield a sure hit. Parents, teachers and librarians desperate for first-level, child-appealing readers will cheer out loud—and quite possibly execute a few joyous spinning kicks of their own—as they snap this one up. (Easy reader. 3-5)
Pub Date: April 25, 2006
ISBN: 0-375-83448-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2006
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