Kids won’t want to eat the titular character, but they’ll definitely gobble this tale up.
An early bird doesn’t catch the worm.
This U.K. import, ostensibly about size comparisons, has an unseen narrator loudly scolding Marcel, a large bird, who’s apparently consumed Steve, a small worm. How does the unseen narrator know? The illustrations clearly show Marcel ambling off, a worm’s body dangling from the bird’s beak. Steve’s released unharmed, though. The lesson resumes, but the disgruntled Marcel flies off with Steve again, disrupting the proceedings. Marcel smashes into a tree and falls to the ground, and Steve drops from Marcel’s mouth. The narrator attempts the lesson again, and Marcel makes another grab for adorable, wide-eyed Steve, who’s been unperturbed about everything and has simply adjusted his tiny hat. The narrator admonishes Marcel: “YOU ARE NOT JUST LETTING YOURSELF DOWN. YOU ARE LETTING EVERYBODY DOWN.” The narrator issues an ultimate warning, finally getting around to the exercise’s original point: Marcel is big, while Steve is small. The “math lesson” draws to a close. But Marcel is now missing. The final illustration’s a hoot—Marcel finally gets some comeuppance upon encountering an even bigger predator. Talk about comparative sizes! The hilarious, crisp color illustrations incorporate creative typesetting into the artwork, wonderfully abetting the side-splitting proceedings.
Kids won’t want to eat the titular character, but they’ll definitely gobble this tale up. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 11, 2025
ISBN: 9798887771311
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
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BOOK REVIEW
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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BOOK REVIEW
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