Another folksy take on the Biblical creation story from the publishers of Phyllis Root’s Big Momma Makes the World (2003, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury). Here, Wood casts Mr. and Mrs. God as cooks with clashing styles; having made a massive sun, Mr. God enthusiastically assembles roaring monsters to populate Mrs. God’s cool, smaller Earth. “They’re hideous,” she complains. “What were you thinking?” Mr. God obligingly blasts them out of existence, but then miffs Mrs. God again by creating a pelican (“Look at that beak!”) that scoops up her colorful, just-decanted rainbow of fish. Opening with an empyrean kitchen full of pots bobbing around an oven “big enough to roast a star,” and closing with two bare, decidedly Neanderthal-ish people rising up from a cookie sheet, Ering’s full-bleed, broadly brushed scenes feature a pair of gnomish elders floating in space amidst kitchenware and bowls of animal parts. Not exactly canonical, but a lighthearted way to get young readers thinking about creation through collaborative effort. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-7636-1258-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2006
Categories: CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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Who is next in the ocean food chain? Pallotta has a surprising answer in this picture book glimpse of one curious boy. Danny, fascinated by plankton, takes his dory and rows out into the ocean, where he sees shrimp eating those plankton, fish sand eels eating shrimp, mackerel eating fish sand eels, bluefish chasing mackerel, tuna after bluefish, and killer whales after tuna. When an enormous humpbacked whale arrives on the scene, Danny’s dory tips over and he has to swim for a large rock or become—he worries’someone’s lunch. Surreal acrylic illustrations in vivid blues and red extend the story of a small boy, a small boat, and a vast ocean, in which the laws of the food chain are paramount. That the boy has been bathtub-bound during this entire imaginative foray doesn’t diminish the suspense, and the facts Pallotta presents are solidly researched. A charming fish tale about the one—the boy—that got away. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-88106-075-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2000
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A wondrous occurrence, an ancient tradition, and an elderly nun’s abiding faith are the basis of this moving Chirstmas tale from dePaola (26 Fairmount Avenue, p. 629, etc.). Sister Angie is overjoyed when her niece Lupe and her husband are selected to play Mary and Joseph—here, Maria and José—for Las Posadas, the reenactment of the journey into Bethlehem. When Sister Angie becomes ill and Lupe and Roberto become stranded in a heavy snowstorm, it seems as if the celebration will be delayed. However, a couple arrives just in time to take the place of the missing players. The whole village participates in the procession, from the singers who follow Mary and Joseph, to the “devils” who attempt to prevent the weary travelers from finding lodging. After several rebuffs, the couple arrives at the gates of the courtyard; these open and the entire assembly enters to celebrate. When Lupe and Roberto finally show up, the other couple is nowhere to be found. The story takes a supernatural twist when Sister Angie discovers that the figures in the church’s manger scene have come to life, temporarily, for the procession. The mysteries and miracles of the season are kept at bay; this simple narrative spells everything out, resulting in a primer on the tradition. Richly hued, luminescent illustrations radiate from the pages; an introduction and author’s note provide additional information. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-399-23400-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
Categories: CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION
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