An amusing, animated, charming tale for fledgling naturalists.
A little girl with a fondness for chorus frogs discovers how elusive they can be.
Lying in her frog-themed bedroom at night, Lilliana loves listening to the chorus frogs singing outside. Like Lilliana, chorus frogs are very small, and they are tricky to locate when she searches for them. Spying the teeny frogs hiding under leaves, she eventually traps them in a large jar and takes them inside, where she places them in a flat box covered with chicken wire. Before Lilliana realizes it, however, the fast-moving, tiny frogs escape. Suddenly, to her parents’ dismay, chorus frogs are croaking loudly and jumping around everywhere. The spare text reiterates how small, hard to catch, and loud chorus frogs can be, so readers will be surprised to discover how Lilliana solves her dilemma. Drawn loosely in squiggly, energetic black outlines washed with fluid greens, blues, yellows, and tans, the lively, detailed illustrations will delight and invite readers to join Lilliana’s search, indoors and outdoors, for the wily, wee chorus frogs. Double-page aerial views reveal Lilliana’s diminutive, red-haired, frog-loving, wellie-wearing figure scouring woods and fields with her companion dachshund as she learns an important lesson in natural animal habitats. Endpapers reveal the chorus frog’s life cycle, and an author’s note adds personal perspective. Lilliana’s mom presents White, and her dad has brown skin and dark hair; Lilliana herself has pale skin and her mom’s red hair.
An amusing, animated, charming tale for fledgling naturalists. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-55017-934-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harbour Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
Nothing riveting but serviceable enough.
Children are introduced to the concepts of sorting and classifying in this bedtime story.
It is getting close to bedtime, and Marco’s mother asks him to put his toys away. Marco—who thinks of himself as a scientist—corrects her: “You mean time to sort the animals.” And that’s what he proceeds to do. Marco sorts his animals into three baskets labeled “Flying Animals,” “Swimming Animals,” and “Animals That Move on Land,” but the animals will not sleep. So he sorts them by color: “Mostly Brown,” “Black and White,” and “Colors of the Rainbow,” but Zebra is upset to be separated from Giraffe. Next, Marco sorts his animals by size: “Small,” “Medium,” and “Large,” but the big animals are cramped and the small ones feel cold. Finally, Marco ranges them around his bed from biggest to smallest, thus providing them with space to move and helping them to feel safe. Everyone satisfied, they all go to sleep. While the plot is flimsy, the general idea that organizing and classifying can be accomplished in many different ways is clear. Young children are also presented with the concept that different classifications can lead to different results. The illustrations, while static, keep the focus clearly on the sorting taking place. Marco and his mother have brown skin. The backmatter includes an explanation of sorting in science and ideas for further activities.
Nothing riveting but serviceable enough. (Math picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-62354-128-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
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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