A gentle story that children will return to time and time again
A boy’s generosity toward animals in need reaps great rewards.
In this beautiful book by German author/illustrator Danowski, a little white boy named Tony wakes up surrounded by his stuffed animals, eagerly anticipating a party to benefit the local animal shelter. He makes the bold decision to donate his beloved stuffed animals for the raffle. At the shelter, he meets a special cat named Valentine and hums a tune to him called “Little Night Cat” (music for the sweet, melancholy song composed by the author is included at the end of the book). A wallpaperlike design in reds and blues ushers readers from the endpapers into the cozy corners of Tony’s home, drawing them into the detailed setting. The illustrations, rendered in pen and ink, watercolor, and gouache, have soft, fuzzy edges and rounded corners that amplify the fuzziness of the real and stuffed animals. Occasional wordless double-page spreads invite readers to linger on the pages to examine the details of Tony’s home: framed pictures of animals on the walls, his mother’s cello in an open case, cat-patterned fabric hanging as his curtains. Children will empathize with Tony’s anxieties, disappointments, and ultimate happiness as he lives with the consequences of his decision, with the guidance of understanding, caring adults.
A gentle story that children will return to time and time again . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4266-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with...
Reynolds and Brown have crafted a Halloween tale that balances a really spooky premise with the hilarity that accompanies any mention of underwear.
Jasper Rabbit needs new underwear. Plain White satisfies him until he spies them: “Creepy underwear! So creepy! So comfy! They were glorious.” The underwear of his dreams is a pair of radioactive-green briefs with a Frankenstein face on the front, the green color standing out all the more due to Brown’s choice to do the entire book in grayscale save for the underwear’s glowing green…and glow they do, as Jasper soon discovers. Despite his “I’m a big rabbit” assertion, that glow creeps him out, so he stuffs them in the hamper and dons Plain White. In the morning, though, he’s wearing green! He goes to increasing lengths to get rid of the glowing menace, but they don’t stay gone. It’s only when Jasper finally admits to himself that maybe he’s not such a big rabbit after all that he thinks of a clever solution to his fear of the dark. Brown’s illustrations keep the backgrounds and details simple so readers focus on Jasper’s every emotion, writ large on his expressive face. And careful observers will note that the underwear’s expression also changes, adding a bit more creep to the tale.
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with Dr. Seuss’ tale of animate, empty pants. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0298-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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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