Children will gobble this one up and ask for more.
It’s always a rollicking adventure when a food item bounds out the door.
As this Dutch import opens, a family comprised of a grandmother, a father, and seven children are getting ready for breakfast. When Dad pours the pancake batter into the sizzling pan, each child vies to get the first one, until the youngest tot whispers, “Can I eat it, dear, kind, clever, sweet, funny, lovely, handsome Dad?” Dad laughs. But when the pancake is flipped, it bounces out the door. “Ha! No one’s going to eat me,” it calls out. “I’m far too fast. Catch me if you can!” Thus begins the chase. As the pancake speeds past a series of animals—among them a rooster, a fox, a badger, and a duck—all dash after the tasty treat. But a clever wild boar gets the last laugh (and the last gulp). Like the classic tale “The Gingerbread Man,” this cumulative story relies on repetition and rhythm, with the boastful titular foodstuff listing all the creatures pursuing it: “Seven hungry children, a rooster and a fox couldn’t eat me—I’m far too fast.” Bright, cheery patterns adorn the indoor scenes; once the chase moves outside, the landscape transforms from autumn crispness to shadowy woods, heightening the drama. A recipe for “deliciously crispy pancakes” is appended. Members of the family vary in skin tone.
Children will gobble this one up and ask for more. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 8, 2025
ISBN: 9781782509318
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Floris
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers.
Echoing the meter of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” Ward uses catchy original rhymes to describe the variety of nests birds create.
Each sweet stanza is complemented by a factual, engaging description of the nesting habits of each bird. Some of the notes are intriguing, such as the fact that the hummingbird uses flexible spider web to construct its cup-shaped nest so the nest will stretch as the chicks grow. An especially endearing nesting behavior is that of the emperor penguin, who, with unbelievable patience, incubates the egg between his tummy and his feet for up to 60 days. The author clearly feels a mission to impart her extensive knowledge of birds and bird behavior to the very young, and she’s found an appealing and attractive way to accomplish this. The simple rhymes on the left page of each spread, written from the young bird’s perspective, will appeal to younger children, and the notes on the right-hand page of each spread provide more complex factual information that will help parents answer further questions and satisfy the curiosity of older children. Jenkins’ accomplished collage illustrations of common bird species—woodpecker, hummingbird, cowbird, emperor penguin, eagle, owl, wren—as well as exotics, such as flamingoes and hornbills, are characteristically naturalistic and accurate in detail.
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers. (author’s note, further resources) (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2116-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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