Where have you been all these years, Rosie? Welcome back, and hello to your little chick.
Hutchins hatches a sequel to her 1968 classic, Rosie’s Walk.
When Rosie’s chick begins hatching, she excitedly calls the other hens and chicks to meet it—“But oh, no! Where is her baby chick?” Some readers will figure out that the chick is hidden in half its shell, its hatched feet buried in the straw, but this crucial detail may be difficult to discern. At the page turn, the other hens disappear, and a cat bats at the half-hatched chick as it leaves the henhouse. Hapless, oblivious Rosie’s back is turned as she looks for the chick. A slapstick search ensues, with Rosie doggedly walking from left to right, unaware of the eggshell-topped chick scurrying behind her as it narrowly escapes predators at every turn. When a fox shows up (because of course one does) it, too, is looking for its baby, and they are reunited at the same moment that the other hens show Rosie where her chick is. At the book’s end, “Rosie and her little baby chick go for a walk” with the foxes gazing after them. Fans of the earlier title will be pleased by the familiar farmyard setting and characters, thought the palette seems a bit brighter and the technique a bit more polished and cartoonish than in the original.
Where have you been all these years, Rosie? Welcome back, and hello to your little chick. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6071-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
This is a tremendously moving story, but some people will be moved only on the second reading, after they’ve Googled “How to...
A hug shouldn’t require an instruction manual—but some do.
A porcupine can frighten even the largest animal. In this picture book, a bear and a deer, along with a small rabbit, each run away when they hear eight simple words and their name: “I need a hug. Will you cuddle me,…?” As they flee, each utters a definitive refusal that rhymes with their name. The repetitive structure gives Blabey plenty of opportunities for humor, because every animal responds to the question with an outlandish, pop-eyed expression of panic. But the understated moments are even funnier. Each animal takes a moment to think over the request, and the drawings are nuanced enough that readers can see the creatures react with slowly building anxiety or, sometimes, a glassy stare. These silent reaction shots not only show exquisite comic timing, but they make the rhymes in the text feel pleasingly subtle by delaying the final line in each stanza. The story is a sort of fable about tolerance. It turns out that a porcupine can give a perfectly adequate hug when its quills are flat and relaxed, but no one stays around long enough to find out except for an animal that has its own experiences with intolerance: a snake. It’s an apt, touching moral, but the climax may confuse some readers as they try to figure out the precise mechanics of the embrace.
This is a tremendously moving story, but some people will be moved only on the second reading, after they’ve Googled “How to pet a porcupine.” (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Jan. 29, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-29710-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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