An inventive, fun, and beautifully illustrated celebration of spiders and all their virtues.
A little girl wonders how so many spiders invaded her house in this rhyming picture book.
Whenever spiders get into her house, a White girl puts them outside again. But every morning, it seems there are more spiders than before. Luckily, she’s not afraid: “They are my constant visitors of every shape and kind— / Because they’re mostly harmless, I never really mind.” She is curious, though, and she imagines spiders parachuting down her chimney, coming in the mail, and riding in on the cat. She describes all the places spiders appear before affirming that outdoors is their natural habitat. Schechter’s delightful rhymes capture the voice of a child. Some entertaining features before and after the poem, told in the voice of Freddie, the cellar spider (a daddy longlegs), offer further insights into the creatures. Illustrator Kalla makes her spiders cheerful and unintimidating for those who fear the arachnids. While at times the rooms seem overwhelmed by the creatures, the girl’s confident expression is likely to help readers keep their cool. The lovely mixed-media images also depict Freddie hiding on each page (the spider wears yellow rain gear to make him easy to identify), giving young readers a seek-and-find opportunity. The facts in a quiz—and notes about which parts of the poem are strictly imaginative—make this a useful resource for students hoping to learn more about these constant companions.
An inventive, fun, and beautifully illustrated celebration of spiders and all their virtues.Pub Date: April 29, 2022
ISBN: 979-8-985456-20-2
Page Count: 42
Publisher: Innocent I Publishers
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
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