porcupines

Review: Vernon Is on His Way by Philip C. Stead

| Tasha

Vernon Is on His Way by Philip C. Stead

Vernon Is on His Way: Small Stories by Philip C. Stead (9781626726550)

Vernon has returned for a second book following A Home for Bird, along with his friends Skunk and Porcupine. In three short stories, readers get to delight in even more time with these characters. The first story is told almost entirely in images since it’s about waiting. Vernon waits and waits until he suddenly realizes that he’s under way already! In the second story, the three of them head out to go fishing. Porcupine though worries that he is ruining the trip for everyone because he’s never been fishing before. As the story goes on it becomes apparent that none of them know what fishing trips actually are, but their version is a huge success for all of them anyway. In the last story, Vernon creates a special garden for himself filled with things he loves and that remind him of Bird. Porcupine and Skunk want to help Vernon feel better about missing Bird, but they struggle to find the right thing to bring him. Along the way they accidentally find exactly what he needs.

As always, Stead hits just the right notes with this book. The three characters are each unique and interesting. Vernon stays as the focal point of the stories but shares the limelight particularly with the worrying Porcupine this time. These books feel like instant classics, the characters will remind readers of Pooh and Eeyore. They are characters you want to spend more time with as they head out on their small adventures together. The illustrations are classic Stead where he uses the white space on the pages very effectively to create space and sometimes longing.

Another winner from Stead that belongs in every library. Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from copy provided by Roaring Brook Press.

My Kite Is Stuck by Salina Yoon

| Tasha

my-kite-is-stuck-by-salina-yoon

My Kite Is Stuck by Salina Yoon

This second Duck, Duck, Porcupine! book continues the refreshing humor of the first. Familiar characters return with Big Duck leading the way, often into confusion. Porcupine joins in. Little Duck is quiet and wise, though no one ever pays him any attention. The book is made up of three short stories. The first story faces the problem of a kite stuck in a tree and their unique and very silly solution to the problem. The second story is about what happens when the characters make new friends, with bugs. Finally, there is the problem of the excitement of the lemonade stand and Big Duck and Porcupine forgetting one important ingredient: the lemonade!

Yoon has a great touch with humor. She allows each joke to play out just long enough to get all of the joy out of it and then briskly moves along to the next story. The stories are entertaining and fun, each of them written for beginning readers to enjoy with adult help or on their own. The three characters play beautifully against one another and will appeal to young readers.

The art is bold and bright. It reminds me of comic panels with its thick black outline on each double-page spread. The speech bubbles add to that feeling as well, making this almost a graphic novel for new readers, but not quite. I particularly enjoy the moments when Little Duck breaks the fourth wall and looks out directly at the reader for sympathy.

Funny and full of laughter, this emergent reader almost-graphic-novel is just right. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Bloomsbury.

Review: Perfectly Percy by Paul Schmid

| Tasha

perfectly percy

Perfectly Percy by Paul Schmid

Percy is a porcupine and one of his favorite things of all are balloons!  But it’s hard when you are a prickly porcupine, balloons don’t last long at all.  So Percy decides to figure out how he can solve the problem with balloons.  He thinks and thinks, but no good ideas come to him.  He tries hanging upside down, riding his tricycle, but nothing.  It’s not until he’s having breakfast that suddenly he has an amazing, incredible idea!

Schmid’s story is quite simple, focused on one little porcupine’s problem with balloons and how he solves it.  I appreciate a picture book that gives so many pages over to coming up with a solution and just thinking and thinking.  It makes for a thoughtful and quiet book.  Best of all, Percy comes up with the solution all on his own with no adult help. 

The illustrations here have a wonderful feel to them.  Done in simple lines with pastel backgrounds, Percy shines.  Throughout the book has a cheery feel, one never doubts that Percy will find a solution to his problem.  Once that solution is found, the cheer turns to sheer joy and delight.  That is one merry porcupine. 

Thoughtful and empowering, this book stays jolly as well.  Percy would be a perfect addition to story times.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Harper Collins.

Review: Hugs from Pearl by Paul Schmid

| Tasha

hugs from pearl

Hugs from Pearl by Paul Schmid

Pearl is a very friendly little porcupine, and one of her favorite things to do is give everyone hugs.  But porcupines are prickly and Pearl’s hugs hurt!  At first Pearl tried keeping Band-Aids handy after hugs, but she didn’t like to make her friends say “Ouch!”  Then she tried pin cushions on her quills, but that took way too long and she couldn’t reach them all.  Pearl tried a long hot bath, but her quills refused to soften.   Pearl decided that she just couldn’t give hugs any more.  But then she got inspiration on her way home from school when she saw some bees buzzing happily among the thorny roses.  Could Pearl have figured out the trick to pain-free hugs from a porcupine?

Schmid has created a story that is simply told and can be read solely as a book about a little porcupine, but it is also a story that could be used for discussions about what each of us has that is prickly and hurts other people and how we can solve it.  The story has a touch of heartache and a real sweetness to it that never becomes sickly sweet or overbearing, instead it has a great freshness to it.

The art is equally fresh with its charming mix of pale greens and pinks.  Pearl herself glows with her pale pink blush, popping on each page compared to the other animals.  Her facial expressions manage to convey deep emotions even though they are just a few lines on the page.  The simplicity in both the text and the illustrations make the book very enticing.

This book is a shining example that adorable, sweet books can also be stirring and warm.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from library copy.