In a picture-book departure from his usual fantasy novels, Stewart (The Edge Chronicles, etc.) has crafted an uninspiring coming-of-age tale about a wolf cub. When Cub-of-Mine cannot sleep, Papa Wolf knows it is time to introduce him to the ways of the adult wolves—the way of the night. Through the dark forest they travel, the Papa Wolf constantly reassuring his youngster in the face of his nighttime fears, the cub wondering if he really is big enough. Reaching Singing Rock just in time for moonrise, Papa Wolf encourages Cub-of-Mine to look into his heart and sing the song he finds there—the song that is in every wolf. And when they return to the den, Cub-of-Mine knows that he is big enough. Vyner’s watercolors fill the pages with mottled, muted color, reflecting the dark setting. His paintings vary in the degree of detail, unable to overcome the limitations of their nighttime palette. The slow pace, inconsistent illustrations and obscure concepts combine to make this one to miss. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-84507-764-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2009
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
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