Review by Booklist Review
Ages 4-6. In a catchy rhyming verse ("This shell is snug. This shell is tight. I will find a shell that's right" ), a salmon-colored hermit crab with a knapsack over his shoulder describes his search for a comfortable home. In addition to being a good introduction to the transitory habits of this particular sea creature, the text provides lots of opportunity for introducing and reinforcing the linguistic concepts of synonyms (snug/tight) and antonyms (rough/smooth). The vibrant watercolors give the text added charm, with Abolafia depicting an astounding variety of shells in all shapes and sizes. The concise text makes this a good choice for preschoolers and beginning readers. Eric Carle's A House for Hermit Crab (1987), for older and more precocious children, covers the subject in a bit more depth. (Reviewed June 1 & 15, 1996)0688139485Lauren Peterson
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This slight but upbeat story takes place on the ocean floor, where a hermit crab searches for his ideal shell. Like Goldilocks, he rejects a number of possibilities, declaring, "Too long,/ too wide,/ too big,/ too small,/ these shells/ will not do at all." At last, the picky crustacean discovers a nautilus with "more room inside./ Room to grow,/ room to hide." Kalan (Jump, Frog, Jump!) compares adjectives such as "fancy" and "plain," "heavy" and "light," introducing beginners to a range of opposites. Abolafia (Fox Tale; My Three Uncles) makes the most of the limited material, presenting simultaneous views of underwater and landlubber life in his watercolor seascapes. His cartoon shellfishwhose pink pincers resemble those of a crayfish, not the asymmetrical claws of a real hermit crabwears bandages after encountering a pointed shell ("too rough"), and poses playfully in front of a peacock-tail-shaped half shell ("too fancy"). Kalan and Abolafia supply plenty of good humor, but look to Megan McDonald's and S.D. Schindler's Is This a House for Hermit Crab? (Orchard, 1990) for scientific substance as well as a pleasing presentation of the same subject. Ages 4-up. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1Using the familiar theme of an outgrown shell, Kalan and Abolafia have created a humorous, cumulative, rhymed story perfect for beginning readers. A comical hermit crab, complete with baseball cap and hobo's stick and kerchief, explores the ocean floor looking for "a shell that's right." He encounters many typestoo big, too small, too long, too wide, etc.that "will not do at all" before finding one that's fine, "like that other shell of mine." The brightly colored illustrations contain adequate realism to identify the various shells and the various denizens of the deep and invite further study. The pictures have funny elements that expand the Dr. Seuss-like textsmall fish bed down in a discarded sardine tin; a shark is pictured about to eat a fish that is about to eat a hooked worm. Large format with sparse text also invites group sharing.Claudia Cooper, Ft. Stockton Independent School District, TX (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
A hermit crab searching for a bigger shell finds them all too wide, too rough, or too fancy until he dicovers one just like his old shell, with room to grow. Large print and an easy, repetitive text make this book fun for preschoolers and early readers. Eye-catching watercolors of a cartoon-style crab show a watery world of kissing fish, seahorses, and coral. From HORN BOOK 1996, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
