Llama Llama learns why tidying is important.
In yet another highly familiar childhood drama, Llama Llama does not want to clean up his toys. He’s having fun playing; why should he stop? Isn’t it Mama Llama’s job to clean up? Mama poses the question: “What if Mama never cleaned? / Imagine that! / What would that mean?” Mama zooms off on her roller skates, with a sheet for a cape, crunching snacks and dropping everything on the floor. Soon the house is strewn with toys, dirty dishes, and trash. “Crumbs and clothes and peanut shells… / What’s this thing? What’s that smell?” Llama Llama can’t take it anymore. “No more Llama / MESS / MESS / MESS!” Perhaps it is a good idea for Llama Llama to lend a hand. Helpful hints for youngsters are slipped inside: Every toy should have a place, and when making your bed, don’t forget to look underneath. This second collaboration between Duncan and Morrow since Dewdney’s passing feels more complete than Llama Llama Loves to Read (2018), with snappy rhythms and a twinkle in Mama’s eye. Returning to Llama Llama and Mama’s relationship feels like home.
Cooperation makes cleaning go much faster—particularly with friendly, rhyming llamas to show the way. (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-670-01644-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING
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This celebration of cross-generational bonding is a textual and artistic tour de force.
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A young boy yearns for what he doesn’t have, but his nana teaches him to find beauty in what he has and can give, as well as in the city where they live.
CJ doesn’t want to wait in the rain or take the bus or go places after church. But through Nana’s playful imagination and gentle leadership, he begins to see each moment as an opportunity: Trees drink raindrops from straws; the bus breathes fire; and each person has a story to tell. On the bus, Nana inspires an impromptu concert, and CJ’s lifted into a daydream of colors and light, moon and magic. Later, when walking past broken streetlamps on the way to the soup kitchen, CJ notices a rainbow and thinks of his nana’s special gift to see “beautiful where he never even thought to look.” Through de la Peña’s brilliant text, readers can hear, feel and taste the city: its grit and beauty, its quiet moments of connectedness. Robinson’s exceptional artwork works with it to ensure that readers will fully understand CJ’s journey toward appreciation of the vibrant, fascinating fabric of the city. Loosely defined patterns and gestures offer an immediate and raw quality to the Sasek-like illustrations. Painted in a warm palette, this diverse urban neighborhood is imbued with interest and possibility.
This celebration of cross-generational bonding is a textual and artistic tour de force. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-399-25774-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Oct. 22, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2014
Categories: CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION
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Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING
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