Review by Booklist Review
Ages 4^-8. One summer night, a frog presents a little girl named Lucy with a magic paper hat and an invitation to a birthday party. The hat makes Lucy as "little as a leaf," and she gets into a taxi driven by a baby bird. On their way to the party, they pick up Madame Mouse, an inchworm, and an old doll, who asks them, "Will my story have a happy ending?" This sort of dreamy, whimsical fare will either completely enthrall children or strike them as entirely too sweet. But in either case, Haas' paintings will delight. Each picture holds a wealth of sly detail, camouflaged in nature or in the clutter of the little girl's bedroom. Only the most careful examination will reveal all the fascinating hidden creatures and party paraphernalia. --Susan Dove Lempke
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
An oversize, square format right away announces that this book is special, and the contents live up to the heightened expectations. The storya sweet fantasy about a magical birthday party held in a moonlit gardenis well-told if not wholly original, but Haas (The Maggie B.) wraps it up in gorgeous illustrations whose sumptuous imagery and sultry compositions virtually define romance and mystery. On a summer night, Lucy receives a frog's invitation to a party, dons the paper hat he brings her and shrinks ("FOOF!") until she is "as little as a leaf." She hops into a taxi driven by a baby bird, who subsequently picks up other party-goers, among them a doll that once belonged to Lucy's grandmother and has been lost for decades; the doll and its owner are reunited at the end à la William Joyce's The Leaf Men. The characters throughout are colorfully individuated through varied, distinctive speech patterns, and Haas adds a soupçon of suspense via an owl intent on finding his dinner. The art is spellbindingly lavish: a softly glowing black background, a strewing of velvety flowers and papery leaves, a doll-like Lucy and a host of inviting, finely detailed creatures. Haas mingles these elements with deceptive ease, and punctuates her full-page art with small vignettes that decorate facing pages of text. A treasury of images, this is a book to savor. Ages 4-8. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2Haas's book is more like a summertime dream than a song. Lucy is in bed when a frog hops in and gives her an invitation to a birthday party and a magic paper hat. When she dons the hat, she becomes as "little as a leaf" and sets out through the garden for the celebration. She accepts a ride in a taxi that looks like a nest and is driven by a baby bird who's afraid to fly. On their way, they pick up various other animals and are threatened by an owl who wants to eat them. Lucy finds a doll lost long ago by her grandmother, attends the party, and returns home. She removes the hat and is once again full-sized. Like a dream, this story seems a bit disconnected and not terribly memorable once one is awake. Haas's watercolor and pastel artwork is also dreamlike. It is often difficult to discern figures in the pictures. Stylized chapeaus obliterate some and others are lost in the dark-keyed palette. The writing is like a free-flowing poem with rhyming here and there. Overall, the book is very pretty, with large, oversized, creamy-colored pages; but like lovely bits and pieces of confetti, it glitters without substance.Judith Gloyer, Milwaukee Public Library (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
I1="BLANK" I2="BLANKFleischman's innovative short novel is the story of an urban garden started by a child and nurtured by people of all ages and ethnic backgrounds. Each of the thirteen chapters is narrated by a different character, allowing the reader to watch as a community develops out of disconnected lives and previous suspicions. Although the total effect of the brief chapters is slightly superficial, some of the individual narratives are moving. The opening chapter about nine-year-old Kim, a Vietnamese immigrant, is a vivid portrait of a child who longs for the approval of her deceased father. The novel is didactic in purpose-folks of all ages, economic backgrounds, and ethnicities put aside their differences to create a beautiful, rich harvest-but effective in execution. From HORN BOOK, (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.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An opulent book that sports sumptuous watercolors, a lively tempo, and clever energy. A frog jumps through Lucy's window on a summer's night, with an invitation to a party and a magic paper hat. Lucy shuffles outside, and ``a finger of moonlight touched the hat and FOOF! Lucy was as little as a leaf.'' Lucy hails a bird's- nest taxi; they stop for Madame Mouse (``Zut! I am late!), Inchworm (``I inch while I sleep,/I inch while I wake,/I inch until,/my little feet ache''), and a wee Japanese doll, lost years before and still hoping to be found. A huge owl threatens to eat them, but the taxi makes a fast escape. When the owl makes an appearance at the party, he is disarmed by the news that the birthday party is for him. ``How kind! Tonight I'll eat cake--not bugs. Do you mind?'' Before the evening's end, Inchworm becomes a moth and the doll regains its owner. Haas touches the story with rhyme here and there, infuses it with hope and old-fashioned enchantment, and loads the artwork with details that continue to reveal themselves upon additional readings. (Picture book. 4-8)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
