Doreen Cronin
Betsy Lewin
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Dooby Dooby Moo
Doreen Cronin
Betsy Lewin
Kindergarten-Grade 3–When Duck discovers an ad in the paper announcing a talent show at the county fair (first prize, a slightly used trampoline), Farmer Brown's animals are unstoppable. The cows and sheep concentrate on their singing while the pigs work on interpretive dance. How the suspicious farmer could ever confuse all this noise with routine snoring is a bit of a stretch, but the hilarious late-night practice scenes inside the barn will help readers make the leap. At the talent show, the cows and sheep impress some of the judges, but lack of sleep has the pigs truly snoring when it is time to perform. Fortunately, Duck steps in to save the day with a winning version of Born to Be Wild. After the talent show, Farmer Brown suspects nothing until he hears boings coming from the barn. Comical watercolor illustrations provide the punch lines to many jokes within the well-paced text. Some of the sophisticated humor will go over the heads of most children, especially the witty footnotes that pepper the story. However, like Click, Clack, Moo (2000) and Giggle, Giggle, Quack (2002, both S & S), this story makes a great read-aloud, and fans of the series will be ecstatic to see another episode of mischief in the barnyard.
Betsy Lewin
Kindergarten-Grade 3–When Duck discovers an ad in the paper announcing a talent show at the county fair (first prize, a slightly used trampoline), Farmer Brown's animals are unstoppable. The cows and sheep concentrate on their singing while the pigs work on interpretive dance. How the suspicious farmer could ever confuse all this noise with routine snoring is a bit of a stretch, but the hilarious late-night practice scenes inside the barn will help readers make the leap. At the talent show, the cows and sheep impress some of the judges, but lack of sleep has the pigs truly snoring when it is time to perform. Fortunately, Duck steps in to save the day with a winning version of Born to Be Wild. After the talent show, Farmer Brown suspects nothing until he hears boings coming from the barn. Comical watercolor illustrations provide the punch lines to many jokes within the well-paced text. Some of the sophisticated humor will go over the heads of most children, especially the witty footnotes that pepper the story. However, like Click, Clack, Moo (2000) and Giggle, Giggle, Quack (2002, both S & S), this story makes a great read-aloud, and fans of the series will be ecstatic to see another episode of mischief in the barnyard.
Betty Lou Blue
Nancy Crocker
Pictures by Boris Kulikov
Kindergarten-Grade 3–Betty Lou Blue had the world's biggest feet. Whackety, thwackety, flappety feet. Being different isn't easy, and the other kids often tease the doe-eyed child. 'If those feet were wings,' they would yell, 'you could fly!' Although her mother tries to reassure her, telling her that everyone's perfect and each living thing has a reason to be, Betty Lou doesn't believe her. Then one wintry day finds her tormentors trapped in waist-deep snow, and the youngster is conflicted about helping them. During this internal struggle, her mother's words of wisdom come to mind: …everything's ugly/that's done out of spite;/But you can be beautiful doing what's right. Although the message is predictable and the language almost too nice, the sophisticated city background and mixed-media illustrations with odd perspectives strike a balance. A fun seasonal selection and a great starting point for conversations about bullies and choosing to do the right thing.
Pictures by Boris Kulikov
Kindergarten-Grade 3–Betty Lou Blue had the world's biggest feet. Whackety, thwackety, flappety feet. Being different isn't easy, and the other kids often tease the doe-eyed child. 'If those feet were wings,' they would yell, 'you could fly!' Although her mother tries to reassure her, telling her that everyone's perfect and each living thing has a reason to be, Betty Lou doesn't believe her. Then one wintry day finds her tormentors trapped in waist-deep snow, and the youngster is conflicted about helping them. During this internal struggle, her mother's words of wisdom come to mind: …everything's ugly/that's done out of spite;/But you can be beautiful doing what's right. Although the message is predictable and the language almost too nice, the sophisticated city background and mixed-media illustrations with odd perspectives strike a balance. A fun seasonal selection and a great starting point for conversations about bullies and choosing to do the right thing.
Wiggle
Doreen Cronin
Art by Scott Menchin
PreS–There's not a lot of story here, but there is plenty of fun as a playful, rump-shaking pup leads toddlers through some of the many ways to move around: "Do you wake up with a wiggle?/Do you wiggle out of bed?/If you wiggle with your breakfast,/it might wind up on your head." The dog goes on to jiggle and dance with various objects and creatures before falling asleep beneath the moon. Menchin's lively, digitally rendered art incorporates elements of reality–photographic bits and pieces–that are well integrated into broad, bright cartoon illustrations. Cronin's nonsensical text is rhythmic and buoyant. Pair this sunny, silly book with Jonathan London's Wiggle Waggle (1999) or Katie Davis's Who Hops? (1998, both Harcourt) for an active storytime about animals in motion.
Art by Scott Menchin
PreS–There's not a lot of story here, but there is plenty of fun as a playful, rump-shaking pup leads toddlers through some of the many ways to move around: "Do you wake up with a wiggle?/Do you wiggle out of bed?/If you wiggle with your breakfast,/it might wind up on your head." The dog goes on to jiggle and dance with various objects and creatures before falling asleep beneath the moon. Menchin's lively, digitally rendered art incorporates elements of reality–photographic bits and pieces–that are well integrated into broad, bright cartoon illustrations. Cronin's nonsensical text is rhythmic and buoyant. Pair this sunny, silly book with Jonathan London's Wiggle Waggle (1999) or Katie Davis's Who Hops? (1998, both Harcourt) for an active storytime about animals in motion.
Click, Clack, Splish, Splash
Doreen Cronin
Betsy Lewin
Fast on the webbed feet of Click, Clack, Quackity Quack: An Alphabetical Adventure comes this counting companion, again starring Duck as the instigator of mischievous, though well-intentioned fun. As the farmer naps on the couch near his soothing fish tank ("1 farmer sleeping"), Duck ("2 feet creeping") and the barnyard crew sneak into the house on a hush-hush mission—something that involves "3 buckets piled high" outside the window and "4 chickens standing by." At book's end, readers learn that Duck's master plan was to liberate the farmer's finned friends (a clue is planted on the title page). Though not quite as charming as its abecedarian cousin, this slight volume still offers a comical introduction to numerals one through 10. Lewin's black-outlined menagerie is as breezy as ever, tiptoeing, climbing or splashing through lots of white space to the final destination. Ages 2-5.
Betsy Lewin
Fast on the webbed feet of Click, Clack, Quackity Quack: An Alphabetical Adventure comes this counting companion, again starring Duck as the instigator of mischievous, though well-intentioned fun. As the farmer naps on the couch near his soothing fish tank ("1 farmer sleeping"), Duck ("2 feet creeping") and the barnyard crew sneak into the house on a hush-hush mission—something that involves "3 buckets piled high" outside the window and "4 chickens standing by." At book's end, readers learn that Duck's master plan was to liberate the farmer's finned friends (a clue is planted on the title page). Though not quite as charming as its abecedarian cousin, this slight volume still offers a comical introduction to numerals one through 10. Lewin's black-outlined menagerie is as breezy as ever, tiptoeing, climbing or splashing through lots of white space to the final destination. Ages 2-5.
Bunny and the Beast
Molly Coxe
Paintings by Pamela Silin-Palmer
In this retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Molly Coxe (Big Egg) casts a rabbit and a bull terrier in the starring roles, while Pamela Silin-Palmer outfits them in spectacular, lavish costumes, placing them in positively sumptuous settings. The story is familiar: a wealthy merchant falls on hard times, much to the dismay of his two snooty daughters. The third, sweet daughter makes the best of the situation, even when the hapless dad gets in a pickle, requiring young Bunny to be packed off to a beast's castle. Her pure love for the beast breaks the spell he's been under, transforming him back to his original form as a handsome rabbit prince, fortuitously enough. The magic here is in the glorious illustrations, although the quick-as-a-bunny narrative is appealing, as well. In her rich oil paintings, Silin-Palmer juxtaposes whimsical situations with a formal style inspired by "sixteenth-century painters, medieval tapestries, and the pre-Raphaelites." The long-legged Bunny gracefully leaps across the pages, flower blossoms, butterflies, and stars abundantly scattered in her path. Her Beast is hardly the terrifying monster of Coxe's description ("His eyes were angry, his teeth were sharp, and his claws were long"); but his ever-drooling tongue and aggressive stance does bring to mind the less-than-amicable traditional relationship between rabbits and dogs. Children familiar with the classic fairy tale will delight in Coxe and Silin-Palmer's remarkable version--the message of selflessness and blind love certainly remains intact. (Ages 4 to 8)
Paintings by Pamela Silin-Palmer
In this retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Molly Coxe (Big Egg) casts a rabbit and a bull terrier in the starring roles, while Pamela Silin-Palmer outfits them in spectacular, lavish costumes, placing them in positively sumptuous settings. The story is familiar: a wealthy merchant falls on hard times, much to the dismay of his two snooty daughters. The third, sweet daughter makes the best of the situation, even when the hapless dad gets in a pickle, requiring young Bunny to be packed off to a beast's castle. Her pure love for the beast breaks the spell he's been under, transforming him back to his original form as a handsome rabbit prince, fortuitously enough. The magic here is in the glorious illustrations, although the quick-as-a-bunny narrative is appealing, as well. In her rich oil paintings, Silin-Palmer juxtaposes whimsical situations with a formal style inspired by "sixteenth-century painters, medieval tapestries, and the pre-Raphaelites." The long-legged Bunny gracefully leaps across the pages, flower blossoms, butterflies, and stars abundantly scattered in her path. Her Beast is hardly the terrifying monster of Coxe's description ("His eyes were angry, his teeth were sharp, and his claws were long"); but his ever-drooling tongue and aggressive stance does bring to mind the less-than-amicable traditional relationship between rabbits and dogs. Children familiar with the classic fairy tale will delight in Coxe and Silin-Palmer's remarkable version--the message of selflessness and blind love certainly remains intact. (Ages 4 to 8)
Miss Nelson Is Back
Harry Allard
James Marshall
Miss Nelson goes away for a week, and the kids in Room 207 fear that they'll have the dreaded substitute teacher, Viola Swamp. Instead, they get Principal Blandsworth, who bores them into taking drastic measures. "A nutty sequel to Miss Nelson Is Missing," PW stated. "Marshall's color cartoons and the twisty tale rise to stratospheric heights of buffoonery."
James Marshall
Miss Nelson goes away for a week, and the kids in Room 207 fear that they'll have the dreaded substitute teacher, Viola Swamp. Instead, they get Principal Blandsworth, who bores them into taking drastic measures. "A nutty sequel to Miss Nelson Is Missing," PW stated. "Marshall's color cartoons and the twisty tale rise to stratospheric heights of buffoonery."
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