First U.S. edition of a UK prizewinner, this brief tale sends a kindhearted bear and a short-lived crane flying off to the Big City. Having always been mildly curious about the glow just visible at the edge of his wilderness haunts, Bartholomew is moved to depart from his comfortable routine when a hyper insect, desperate to reach the bright lights, bumps into his nose. Though the sojourn turns out to be far longer than expected, and first impressions rather disappointing as they arrive in daytime, once the sun goes down and the lights come up, it’s Party time with a capital “P.” Layton pairs occasionally errant lines of text, and exclamatory comments in balloons, to scribbly illustrations that underscore the amusing contrasts between the lumbering bear and his tiny, frantic companion. Having seen the bug and a lady friend flit off into ecstatic electrocution after a night of good times, Bartholomew returns to his woodland retreat with both fond memories and a new taste for the occasional fling. A lighthearted take on mortality, as well as the old truth that travel is a broadening experience. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: July 15, 2006
ISBN: 0-340-87328-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Hodder Children’s Books/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2006
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
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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