Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-An oblivious panda with a hankering for bamboo inadvertently leads a flock of followers on his quest to find some. Brief rhyming text accentuates punchy descriptions as the cub rambles down hills, prances through flowers, and pushes away brambles in search of his coveted treat. As the action builds, more and more pandas follow the unwitting leader. When he climbs a ginkgo tree to get a better view, the hungry pandas scamper after him, causing them to catapult to the ground in a heap-except for Beckett, who bounces and flies until he lands in a field full of his favorite snack. Succinct phrases accelerate the determined mission, maintaining high energy throughout. "Little Beckett-with five pandas/-marched through forests, too./He didn't see four pandas there/in a game of leap-the-bear./But all that leaping gets a panda/thinking of bamboo!" Unfortunately, there are no distinguishing characteristics to separate one cub from the next. Soft colors predominately featured through lush green hues capture each cheery outdoor scene. The absence of nuanced characters prevents emotional depth, though the springy text suits the breezy trek. All in all, a light and airy romp.-Meg Smith, Cumberland County Public Library, Fayetteville, NC (c) Copyright 2011. 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 hungry panda searching for "snacks to chomp," i.e., delicious bamboo shoots, unwittingly leads a bouncy game of follow-the-leader through hills, fields, flowers, and forests. Breezy illustrations saturated with greens and yellows--and pandas--accompany an energetic text with varied rhyme schemes and meters that will keep young listeners and readers on their toes. (c) Copyright 2011. 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
Panda parade seeks sweet bamboo. It begins with a single young panda named Beckett, "empty tummy rumbling / he needed some bamboo." Beckett climbs a hill, where he's spotted by two other (identical-looking) pandas. Before long..."down the hill they promptly rolled / to follow Beckett as he strolled." This trio passes a few more pandas, sleeping in a field of flowers and dreaming of bamboo. They join the others, marching through a forest, where four pandas are playing leap-the-bear; naturally, this quartet also joins the line, realizing "they were hungry too / for tall and wobbly, fun and gobbly / sweet bamboo to chew." Four more pandas are hiding in tall greenery near the road where the 10 pandas pass, and they too join the snaking line. Through it all, Beckett is clueless that he has attracted such a large number of followers. He climbs a gingko tree to look for bamboo, and all the others do likewise; the tree rocks to and fro, then pandas "bounce high and low" (the "panda-monium" of the title). The book's design highlights some phonetically fun words (blur, shimmy). Vasylenko's pandas are modeled, with manufacturer's permission, on Ty, Inc., plush toys, and Beckett himself is a trademarked character. The whole is pleasant enough but unmemorableprobably not even enough to sell a soft toy or two. (Picture book. 3-6)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
