Five little ducklings follow their mother and do what all ducks do, but when a sixth large and very hairy duckling joins the line, Mama Duck must use her ingenuity to root out the imposter. Waddling and hopping along, all the ducklings are trying their best to be model ducks, but suddenly a big, brown fox creeps on the scene. Mama is suspicious, but she decides to put this new “duck” through some tests. The fox does his best to follow Mama’s directions. He walks with a waddle; takes a dip in the mud puddle to cool off; and even eats a worm, but it is clear that a worm is not what he has in mind for a snack as he creeps up on one of the baby ducklings. Mama’s suspicions grow as the fox fails every test. Finally, she commands all the ducklings to hop in the river. “Down go the ducklings, all tails up! And down goes the stranger. Glup! Glup! Glup! / So where are all the ducklings now? Here they all come. Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Every one.” All except the hairy, out-smarted stranger who slinks off towards home. Whimsical watercolor drawings fill each page highlighting the fox’s silly antics. The rhyming text filled with repetitive phrases make this a natural for reading aloud. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7636-1668-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2002
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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Today Carmelita visits her Abuela Rosa, but to get there she must walk. Down Ninth Avenue she strolls with her mother and dog. Colorful shops and congenial neighbors greet them along the way, and at each stop Carmelita says hello—in Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew and more. With a friendly “Jambo” for Joseph, a “Bonjour” at the bakery and an affectionate “Hey” for Max and Angel, the pig-tailed girl happily exercises her burgeoning multilingual skills. Her world is a vibrant community, where neighborliness, camaraderie and culture are celebrated. Isadora’s collaged artwork, reminiscent of Ezra Jack Keats, contains lovely edges and imperfections, which abet the feeling of an urban environment. Skillfully, she draws with her scissors, the cut-paper elements acting as her line work. Everything has a texture and surface, and with almost no solid colors, the city street is realized as a real, organic place. Readers will fall for the sociable Carmelita as they proudly learn a range of salutations, and the artist’s rich environment, packed with hidden details and charming animals, will delight readers with each return visit. Simply enchanting. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: April 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-399-25230-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2010
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A pleasing poem that celebrates babies around the world. Whether from a remote village or an urban dwelling, a tent or the snow, Fox notes that each “of these babies, / as everyone knows, / had ten little fingers / and ten little toes.” Repeated in each stanza, the verse establishes an easy rhythm. Oxenbury’s charming illustrations depict infants from a variety of ethnicities wearing clothing that invokes a sense of place. Her pencil drawings, with clean watercolor washes laid in, are sweetly similar to those in her early board books (Clap Hands, 1987, etc.). Each stanza introduces a new pair of babies, and the illustrations cleverly incorporate the children from the previous stanzas onto one page, allowing readers to count not only fingers and toes but also babies. The last stanza switches its focus from two children to one “sweet little child,” and reveals the narrator as that baby’s mother. Little readers will take to the repetition and counting, while parents will be moved by the last spread: a sweet depiction of mother and baby. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-15-206057-2
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2008
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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