¡Ay, Poco Loco! We hope to see you again soon.
Poco Loco the mouse may be a little nuts, but he’s got some great ideas, too.
One morning, after using his Cuckoo Clock–Coffemaker and his Shower-Bed, Poco Loco is making breakfast (fluffy blueberry waffles) on his Waffle Iron–Weather Forecaster when he receives a forecast for mal tiempo (bad weather). The barnyard animals troop outside for a breakfast picnic despite Poco Loco’s repeated warnings. When a sudden gust of wind catches his trusty paraguas (umbrella) and sweeps Poco Loco into the air, his friends panic. Gallo (rooster) tries to help: “ ‘¡Ay, Poco Loco!’ / Gallo runs! / Gallo jumps! / Gallo grabs tight— / …and Gallo takes flight!” Gato, Cerdo and Vaca (cat, pig, and cow) all try to save their friends, until all are flying through the air hanging on to Poco Loco. When the rain comes and they all slip off, it’s a good thing Poco Loco is a genius! He saves the day with his helicóptero-paraguas! Husband-and-wife team Krause and Chua’s debut is an ebulliently silly bilingual barnyard tale with a glossary up front and plenty of prompts for Spanish words in the text and pictures: When Gato speaks, he meows, and Poco Loco’s umbrella is quite obvious when he tells everyone to get under his paraguas. The bright, stylized cartoon illustrations are just what one would expect from a designer who works on the Simpsons TV show.
¡Ay, Poco Loco! We hope to see you again soon. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: April 30, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4778-1649-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Amazon Children's Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
Parent-child love and affection, appealingly presented, with the added attraction of the seasonal content and lack of gender...
A polar-bear parent speaks poetically of love for a child.
A genderless adult and cub travel through the landscapes of an arctic year. Each of the softly rendered double-page paintings has a very different feel and color palette as the pair go through the seasons, walking through wintry ice and snow and green summer meadows, cavorting in the blue ocean, watching whales, and playing beside musk oxen. The rhymes of the four-line stanzas are not forced, as is the case too often in picture books of this type: “When cold, winter winds / blow the leaves far and wide, / You’ll cross the great icebergs / with me by your side.” On a dark, snowy night, the loving parent says: “But for now, cuddle close / while the stars softly shine. // I’ll always be yours, / and you’ll always be mine.” As the last illustration shows the pair curled up for sleep, young listeners will be lulled to sweet dreams by the calm tenor of the pictures and the words. While far from original, this timeless theme is always in demand, and the combination of delightful illustrations and poetry that scans well make this a good choice for early-childhood classrooms, public libraries, and one-on-one home read-alouds.
Parent-child love and affection, appealingly presented, with the added attraction of the seasonal content and lack of gender restrictions. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68010-070-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers.
Echoing the meter of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” Ward uses catchy original rhymes to describe the variety of nests birds create.
Each sweet stanza is complemented by a factual, engaging description of the nesting habits of each bird. Some of the notes are intriguing, such as the fact that the hummingbird uses flexible spider web to construct its cup-shaped nest so the nest will stretch as the chicks grow. An especially endearing nesting behavior is that of the emperor penguin, who, with unbelievable patience, incubates the egg between his tummy and his feet for up to 60 days. The author clearly feels a mission to impart her extensive knowledge of birds and bird behavior to the very young, and she’s found an appealing and attractive way to accomplish this. The simple rhymes on the left page of each spread, written from the young bird’s perspective, will appeal to younger children, and the notes on the right-hand page of each spread provide more complex factual information that will help parents answer further questions and satisfy the curiosity of older children. Jenkins’ accomplished collage illustrations of common bird species—woodpecker, hummingbird, cowbird, emperor penguin, eagle, owl, wren—as well as exotics, such as flamingoes and hornbills, are characteristically naturalistic and accurate in detail.
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers. (author’s note, further resources) (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2116-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
© Copyright 2025 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.
