An earnest but perplexing tale about ecological preservation.
An unusual circus comes to town.
Colorful bird feathers bearing tickets to the Flying Circus rain down on a village. A flock of birds descends from the sky with a striped circus tent. The townsfolk hand in their tickets and enter. After the lemur ringmaster tells a magical story, a series of images take shape. A swarm of buzzing bees appears, then turns into a waterfall. A forest grows; birds, animals, and fireflies emerge. The tent fills with water and sea creatures. A unicycle-riding, juggling bear dazzles the crowd. A whale leaps through the air; a tiger and other endangered or extinct creatures and plants materialize. Readers learn that the Flying Circus is actually “nature’s messenger asking for help on behalf of the trees, the animals, and every life form.” Departing audience members receive a “precious gift: a seed to plant in the hopes of transforming their wounded world.” The birds that delivered the tent prepare to carry it elsewhere and will leave seeds there, too, to remind successive audiences to cherish the earth. This odd, overlong story, originally published in Belgium and the Netherlands and translated from Dutch, offers a warning about protecting the planet—a laudable message. Unfortunately, the confusing, bizarre imagery and plodding text don’t convey that vital takeaway effectively; the connection between the circus acts and the conclusion feels unclear. Still, the lush illustrations have some appeal. Human characters are mostly light-skinned.
An earnest but perplexing tale about ecological preservation. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9798890630803
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Clavis
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2024
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader!
Fun with friends makes for a great day.
Norbit, a salmon-colored worm with a pink kerchief, joyfully greets the day and everyone he encounters. “Hello, friends! It’s time for fun with the sun! Let’s play!” He and his menagerie of forest pals—including the sun, who grows limbs and descends from the sky—exuberantly engage in various forms of physical activity such as jumping, going down a slide, spinning around, and watching the clouds go by. Young readers will readily relate, as these are games that most children are familiar with. As day turns to night, Norbit says farewell to Sun and welcomes Moon with an invitation to continue the fun. Watkins has created a vivid world of movement and merriment. Her illustrations feature bright bursts of color that match the energy of the text, with most sentences ending in an exclamation point. The author/illustrator incorporates many elements that make for an ideal early-reading experience (despite the use of a contraction or two): art free from clutter, text consisting of words with only one or two syllables, and repetition and recurring bits, such as a continued game of hide-and-seek with Sun. Inspired by never-before-seen sketches from the Dr. Seuss Collection archives at the University of California San Diego, this is the first title for Seuss Studios, a new imprint for original stories from “emerging authors and illustrators” who “honor Seuss’s hallmark spirit of creativity and imagination.”
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader! (author's note) (Early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780593646212
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Seuss Studios
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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