Review by New York Times Review
Harvest APPLE Written and illustrated by Nikki McClure. 40 pp. Abrams Appleseed. $12.95. (Picture book; ages 3 to 6) McClure's homage to the old-fashioned apple lands like a spirited rebuke to packaged baggies of presliced fruit and G.M. apples that never rot. Her trademark block cutouts, pared down here to black, white and red delicious, travel backward from ripe fruit to planted seed, well timed for an autumn tale about seasons and renewal. The art is gorgeous, the text is one-word-per-page minimal and the "story" is sprinkled with welcome surprises. An apple swings from its tree; a girl hides an apple in her backpack on her way to school and forgets it on the ground at recess. Think a new tree will grow there? LITTLE SWEET POTATO By Amy Beth Bloom. Illustrated by Noah Z. Jones. 32 pp. Katherine Tegen Books. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 7) Poor sweet potato - all that vitamin C, and still lumped together with the stuff of French fries. Bloom, a National Book Award finalist for grown-ups, turns her pen to picture books and sweet potatoes in this heartfelt and heartwarming debut about a tuber who doesn't fit in. The carrots are disdainful. The eggplants, full of themselves. "You're a lumpy, bumpy, dumpy vegetable, and we're beautiful," the flowers sneer. Luckily, in this mean-kids parable, Little Sweet Potato finds a more accepting patch of flora to plant himself in. Probably organic, too. SEED BY SEED The Legend and Legacy of John "Appleseed" Chapman. By Esmé Raji Codell. Illustrated by Lynne Rae Perkins. 32 pp. Greenwillow Books/ HarperCollins Publishers. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) Codell asks readers to seat themselves at a window, looking out over a highway-covered landscape and imagine a "quiet, tree-bough-tangled world, the world before the cement was poured and the lights turned on." Codell's lilting text and Perkins's sumptuous landscapes will have urban parents ready to up-and-to-the-country. But stick around for the man's frontier life story, told here inspiration style. This is Johnny Appleseed - pioneer, reader, vegetarian, spiritualist, businessman, friend of American Indians and tamer of wolves. He planted apple seeds, too. CREEPY CARROTS By Aaron Reynolds. Illustrated by Peter Brown. 40 pp. Simon & Schuster. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) Zombies, bullies, root vegetables - they're all pretty scary to children. Especially when combined in an oversize carrot. Playing off a child's worst nightmare, Reynolds shows how carrots suddenly seem to lurk in every corner, tormenting a poor bunny. The stark and atmospheric illustrations by Brown ("Children Make Terrible Pets"), working exclusively in shades of gray save the garish orange of the vegetables in question, are simply splendid. But be warned: for the 5-year-old faint of heart, the story may sting too sharply. READY FOR PUMPKINS Written and illustrated by Kate Duke. 40 pp. Alfred A. Knopf. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 5 to 8) Duke ("Our Guinea Pig Is Not Enough") introduces Hercules, first-grade rodent, in a multilayered tale about time, the seasons and the long, impatient wait for a full-grown pumpkin to pick. Abandoning the formula for class-pet tales, Duke shows Hercules to have a life outside the classroom. When the teacher takes Herky to her country home for the summer, he discovers his horticultural side. Especially marvelous is what Herky's accomplishment shows children: animals and plants have lives and life cycles of their own. PAMELA PAUL Woof BAILEY AT THE MUSEUM Written and illustrated by Harry Bliss. 32 pp. Scholastic Press. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 6) First Bailey wanted to go to school ("Bailey"). Now he wants to leave the classroom for school trips. Who can blame him when the destination is the American Museum of Natural History, that staple setting for great children's literature? Bliss's student-filled scenes recall the adventures of Ms. Frizzle's crew, with Bailey asking all the good questions. Bliss, who draws cartoons for The New Yorker, throws in choice asides for grown-ups (on the lunch menu: Soy Stuff, marked "Almost Organic"). BOOT & SHOE Written and illustrated by Marla Frazee. 40 pp. Beach Lane Books. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) A genius at capturing human expression and antics, Frazee ("The Seven Silly Eaters," "The Boss Baby," "Clementine") seems equally unrivaled at depicting canine behavior and emotion. Boot and Shoe are brothers who live peacefully in the same home, sharing food bowl and bed, but then each retreating to his own porch for rest and contemplation. One day, a scampering squirrel mixes things up; chaos ensues. Expertly drawn, full of humor and affection and beautifully arranged, "Boot & Shoe" is a jubilant romp from beginning to end. READY OR NOT, HERE COMES SCOUT! By Jill Abramson and Jane O'Connor. Illustrated by Deborah Melmon. 32 pp. Viking. $15.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) Small, cute, overeager and indiscriminately affectionate is an apt way to describe a certain alpha-strain of preschooler. Or a puppy. And really, what's the difference? Especially when the puppy, Scout, has her very own lovey too, and just wants to play and make friends. Abramson, the executive editor of The New York Times, and O'Connor, author of the phenomenally popular "Fancy Nancy" books, are sisters and co-authors of this picture book inspired by Abramson's Puppy Diaries blog and subsequent grown-up book. Billed as "A Puppy Diaries Book," Scout's friendly tale is clearly the first in a series. Note the cliffhanger: Will Taco ever warm to Scout's overtures? We need not ask the same of readers. LENORE FINDS A FRIEND A True Story From Bedlam Farm. By Jon Katz. 32 pp. Henry Holt & Company. $15.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) A follow-up to "Meet the Dogs of Bedlam Farm," Lenore's genial true tale, told through lively animal photography and sweet, descriptive text, works as a stand-alone. Lenore is the last of five working dogs on Katz's upstate New York farm, and none of the other dogs want to be friends with her. (A puppy portrait reveals the obvious: jealousy.) One day, Lenore approaches Brutus, "a grumpy ram," and gives him a big kiss on the nose. "Brutus had never been kissed before. He turned away." But not for long. This is a story about friendship, and eventually, Brutus cottons to Lenore's affections. Others soon do the same. LULU WALKS THE DOGS By Judith Viorst. Illustrated by Lane Smith. 145 pp. Atheneum. $15.99. (Middle grade; ages 6 to 10) Viorst's narrator-heroine, enjoying a fresh turn after "Lulu and the Brontosaurus," is full of 'tude and doesn't care if you don't like it. A child of entitlement, Lulu is nonetheless told she needs to earn money for her latest heart's desire. Dog walking teaches her a lesson. Lulu feels like a cousin of, and a step up the chapter book ladder in difficulty from, Junie B. Jones. Smith's sharp-eyed charcoals add kick. PAMELA PAUL ONLINE A slide show of this week's illustrated books at nytimes.com/books.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [September 30, 2012]
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Co-written by sisters, this book is drawn from the blog and subsequent adult book, The Puppy Diaries, by New York Times executive editor and devoted dog owner Abramson. Like O'Connor's Fancy Nancy, Scout is a self-assured hero, as evidenced by the white puppy's spirited, childlike narration ("Ooh ooh! Guess what! Today we're going to the park, because I'm big enough now for real friends"). Scout's eager voice and Melmon's (Labracadabra) pencil-and-watercolor cartoons work in cheerful tandem to convey the puppy's ingenuousness and exuberance. Scout is determined to make friends on her first trip to the dog park, but her efforts to join in the fun backfire. Repeatedly chiming "Ready or not, here I come!" the rambunctious Scout overwhelms and annoys her peers-disrupting their games and splashing wildly in the "puppy pool"-until she takes the time to learn proper play decorum. In a second lesson that also applies to two-legged playmates, Scout discovers how to deal with an irritable puppy that isn't quite ready to play with others. Light yet thoughtful, this smooth collaboration is a surefire child and parent pleaser. Ages 4-6. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-K-Scout's initial visit to the dog park is not going well. She may be all heart and enthusiasm, but her social awareness is not on a par with that of the other dogs. She splashes in the wading pool, takes a rope that does not belong to her, and comes on too strong with a tiny, timid dog. At the end of the day, it's a good thing that Scout still has her stuffed animal, Baby, for comfort as she hasn't made any friends. On a second visit, Scout demonstrates improved social skills, is quickly integrated into the dog-park scene, and enjoys a blissful period of play. Then an aggressive canine named Taco arrives. Scout avoids this bully by staying home at first and later by keeping her distance. Very real playtime conflicts are brought to life in this peppy, brightly illustrated offering. While the story is perfect for preschoolers, the ending is actually quite subtle and deserving of discussion. Even though mean Taco is the one to recover Scout's missing Baby, he runs away. "All my friends are calling to me....I wish Taco would play too. Maybe one day he will want to. Me, I'm ready to play now!" remarks Scout, whose joyful demeanor speaks volumes about the benefits of learning to make and keep friends.-Gloria Koster, West School, New Canaan, CT (c) Copyright 2012. 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 Kirkus Book Review
A boisterous golden retriever puppy narrates her attempts to make friends at the dog park in this earnest but uninspired story that fails to capture the bouncy charm of a real puppy. Abramson, the executive editor of the New York Times, previously relayed the story of rearing her puppy in a book for adults, The Puppy Diaries: Raising a Dog Named Scout (2011). For this effort, Abramson collaborates with her sister, the author of the popular Fancy Nancy series. Despite their extensive publishing experience, the authors present an unexceptional story with a stilted text that reads like a stale beginning reader from the 1950s. Scout narrates in a coy, overly cheery tone with an abundance of exclamation marks and repeated refrains of "Ooh ooh!" and "Ready or not, here I come!" After learning to play nicely and to share her toy, Scout proclaims, "Wow! See how popular I am now!" Appealing illustrations of the cast of cavorting canines add interest but fail to rescue the lackluster text. Kids don't want a lesson in playground etiquette delivered in didactic fashion from a puppy, even a cute one. Ready or not? Not. (Picture book. 3-6)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
