With its flaws more likely to bother adults than children, this tale delivers an enjoyable adventure for reading aloud.
In this children’s series opener, a girl embarks on an expedition with her cat and a (mostly) intrepid band of stuffed-animal friends.
Madison is a freckle-faced, daring young girl who lives in Squirrel Hill—not the Pittsburgh neighborhood but a bucolic rural area with a farmhouse bordered by Briar Woo, a small forest with a stream running through it. (The forest’s curious name is never explained, perhaps deriving from a child’s pronunciation of Briar Woods.) Madison’s companions include a cat named Kitty, who claims not to be curious but is, and two live stuffed animals who speak. Ellie the elephant, fat and fearful, makes up enjoyable songs; Sergeant Monk-Monk is well-organized and resembles Madison’s Uncle Stanley, a soldier. Uncle Stanley bought Monk-Monk in North Africa—which, Madison is sure, lies on the other side of Briar Woo and is the object of today’s trek. The foursome encounters some problems, especially in crossing the creek that runs through the woods; Ellie, in particular, has some scary moments but prevails, and the companions befriend a beaver. Madison is dismayed to discover that after all their exploring, they will arrive where they started, but she praises her friends for doing well. North Africa can wait for another day. Clark (Just an Ordinary Elephant and the Bald Cardinal, 2018, etc.) owes an obvious debt to A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh books, with the woods, a young child protagonist, and a cast of plush-toy–derived characters. Like Pooh, Ellie creates whimsical ditties; like Eeyore, he's pessimistic: “We do not know how far it is…and my short, fat legs cannot move very fast.” Clark does add a North American flavor to the story (aimed at ages 4 to 7) with the farmhouse setting, gopher and beaver characters, and general air of can-do resolve. It’s odd, though, that the dialogue sometimes sounds British: “Bosh,” “Terribly sorry,” and “Listen, old chap,” for example. Driver’s (Just an Ordinary Elephant and the Bald Cardinal, 2018) skillfully drawn, attractive illustrations deftly capture personalities, providing rich details that help tell the story.
With its flaws more likely to bother adults than children, this tale delivers an enjoyable adventure for reading aloud.Pub Date: May 7, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-71724-569-4
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Ozymandias Publishing Co.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 19, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
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