Gliori (Mr. Bear Babysits, etc.) offers a version of the adage that it takes a village to raise a child, when Mr. and Mrs. Bear get help from a community of loving friends in soothing their fretful newborn. When the serenity of the nighttime forest is shattered by the incessant wailing of Mr. Bear’s newest child, the woodland animals offer the bleary parents suggestions on how they put their own offspring to sleep. With ingenious and amusing results, Gliori devises forest-appropriate baby furniture, from Mr. Bun’s lettuce and carrot cradle to Mrs. Buzz’s honey-filled hive. Alas, none of these remedies works and soon the friends drift back to their own homes. Only Small Bear can enlighten her parents as to what the baby needs—a warm snuggle in bed with the family. The endearing illustrations are brimming with humorous details. The bedroom of Mr. and Mrs. Bear looks as if a small whirlwind hit it—it is strewn with tiny clothes, small toys, the ubiquitous pile of baby care manuals, ointment, and more—deftly conveying the way one very small and helpless creature can reorient a family’s entire universe. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-531-30152-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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One of a four-book series designed to help the very young prepare for new siblings, this title presents a toddler-and-mother pair (the latter heavily pregnant) as they read about new babies, sort hand-me-downs, buy new toys, visit the obstetrician and the sonographer, speculate and wait. Throughout, the child asks questions and makes exclamations with complete enthusiasm: “How big is the baby? What does it eat? I felt it move! Is it a boy or girl?” Fuller’s jolly pictures present a biracial family that thoroughly enjoys every moment together. It’s a bit oversimplified, but no one can complain about the positive message it conveys, appropriately, to its baby and toddler audience. The other titles in the New Baby series are My New Baby (ISBN: 978-1-84643-276-7), Look at Me! (ISBN: 978-1-84643-278-1) and You and Me (ISBN: 978-1-84643-277-4). (Board book. 18 mos.-3)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-84643-275-0
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Child's Play
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2010
Categories: CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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BOOK REVIEW
PLB 0-7868-2399-2 Miss Perkins goes out in the snow to get her mail and brings back a stray cat. Naming it Fitz, because that is the sound it made when it sneezed, Miss Perkins tries not to get too attached to the stray, and runs an ad that reads: “Wanted: Good home for fluffy cat named Fitz.” Fitz, however, does not want to be adopted by anyone other than Miss Perkins, so he mysteriously disappears whenever someone answers the ad. Fitz finds his way into Miss Perkins’s heart by jumping up on her lap and licking the tip of her nose, sleeping at the foot of her bed to keep her feet warm, and finally chasing a mouse out of her home. With that final act, Miss Perkins finds Fitz to be a perfectly remarkable cat. Bright and finely detailed illustrations show clearly why the cat would not leave; the elderly woman’s home is as snug as they come in the detailed illustrations. Children will love this simple story of a love match forged by destiny, and aided by the occasional well-timed disappearance. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7868-0457-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1999
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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