A sweet parent-child relationship laced with lessons about enjoying today while also looking ahead to the future.
Follow a mother bear and cub as they spend a day in the woods and the cub learns about life.
Like most parents, Mommy Bear wishes the best for her cub—strength, courage, perseverance in the face of adversity, and future loving companions. Someday. But now is the time for the mother and cub to make memories of berry feasts, swims, and snuggles. Their day is idyllic as they roam, lounge, play, and finally sleep. The illustrations include other animal parent-child units out and about, too. Early in the story, Mommy Bear compares her cub to a sapling growing into a tree, and trees, in various forms and from different perspectives, figure prominently in the soothing illustrations. The dark bears with crisp contours stand out against a variety of soft pastel nature scenes. Tree limbs often flow across the page and subtly underscore the go-with-the-flow attitude of the bears’ day. However, the leaves in fall flame hues, which add splashes of color to most illustrations, seem incongruously tiny given the small size of the cub. This quiet, philosophical read-aloud is just right for nap time. Given that Mommy Bear is the picture of relaxed parenting, it’s also an ideal gift to remind new mothers or mothers-to-be to savor each day with their child as well as a wonderful Mother’s Day present. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A sweet parent-child relationship laced with lessons about enjoying today while also looking ahead to the future. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-68010-281-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022
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
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
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