An unlikely animal duo, a moose and a bird, become fast friends when the latter, unable to fly, is rescued by the moose. Contrast between the two extends beyond size and mobility as moose lives and longs for his prior solitary life, “deep in the woods” at the foot of the mountains. Visually amusing is the playful scale of each animal wrestling with a worm. Bird, forces moose into a friendship with constant, noisy chatter. A bond is forged between the two, and it’s a forest fire that separates them: Bird can finally fly. Moose, alone again, misses his lost friend more than the regained solace. At last, Bird returns and, with a big chirp echoed in bold print, announces his return, “HEY MOOSE!” On the final double spread, Bird and a flock of feathered friends are perched on moose’s antlers and provide enough loft to lift him off the ground. Spare text, line and form echo this simple, tender relationship. Pastel, gauzy, two-dimensional, geometric shapes define the story and characters that will appeal to young readers. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-4231-0173-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2007
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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A terrific choice for the preschool crowd.
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Little Blue Truck learns that he can be as important as the big yellow school bus.
Little Blue Truck is driving along the country road early one morning when he and driver friend Toad come across a big, yellow, shiny school bus. The school bus is friendly, and so are her animal passengers, but when Little Blue Truck wishes aloud he could do an important job like hers, the school bus says only a bus of her size and features can do this job. Little Blue Truck continues along, a bit envious, and finds Piggy crying by the side of the road, having missed the bus. Little Blue tells Piggy to climb in and takes a creative path to the school—one the bus couldn’t navigate—and with an adventurous spirit, gets Piggy there right on time. The simple, rhyming text opens the story with a sweet, fresh, old-fashioned tone and continues with effortlessly rhythmical lines throughout. Little Blue is a brave, helpful, and hopeful character young readers will root for. Adults will feel a rush of nostalgia and delight in sharing this story with children as the animated vehicles and animals in innocent, colorful countryside scenes evoke wholesome character traits and values of growth, grit, and self-acceptance. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A terrific choice for the preschool crowd. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: June 29, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-358-41224-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION
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Hee haw.
28
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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. 29, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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