Review by New York Times Review
Cloudette, an impeccably cute cloud, has ambitions that outpace her modest size. "She wanted to make a brook babble. She wanted to make a waterfall fall. And she thought nothing would be more fun than giving some kids a day off from school." Her tale raises questions relevant to little children: Is there anything good about being small? Will I ever be as good as the big kids? What do clouds do anyway? They'll like the answers. THE VOYAGE OF TURTLE REX, by Kurt Cyrus. 40 pp. Harcourf. $16.99 (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) Unbeknown to many a dinosaur enthusiast, sea turtles and plesiosaurs were prehistoric contemporaries, and this vision of their undersea lives will offer respite to those readers - child and parent alike - who've overdosed on dino dictionaries and Tyrannosaurus rex. With oversize, comics-inflected artwork, Cyrus ("Tadpole Rex") follows the lifespan of the giant Archelon in rhyming couplets. It's March of the Turtles - childbirth, midlife adventure, eco-threats and all. TO MARKET, TO MARKET, by Nikki McClure. 40 pp. Abrams. $17.95. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) With her distinctive cut-paper artistry, McClure ("Mama, Is It Summer Yet?"), follows a young boy and his mother on market day, when they shop for apples, kale, honey, smoked salmon and other green-market items, and traces each to its source. The style evokes a Robert McCloskey world of home-jarred jams, which may appeal more to parents, but kids will love learning how milk is curdled and honey collected from hives. SEASONS, by Anne Crausaz. 48 pp. Kane Miller. $15.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) This beautifully illustrated French import stands out from many guides to the seasons by framing the weather in terms of a child's sensory experience. Crausaz knows the preschool audience well. Spring brings ladybugs; summer is about fireflies. "The wind is blowing the ants with the seeds. Let's follow them." With its mushrooms, chestnuts and fog, "Seasons" comes across as très Francais, but will appeal to all children. ENERGY ISLAND How One Community Harnessed the Wind and Changed Their World. By Allan Drummond. 40 pp. Frances Foster. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 6 to 10) "Energy Island" opens with the power of wind captured by a pin wheel, an illustration that neatly encapsulates this remarkably accessible book about the path to energy independence on the Danish island of Samso. Sidebars explain concepts like global warming and wind energy while the story follows a class, under the guidance of its teacher, as they rally the community to embrace turbines, solar panels and biomass furnaces. WORLD WITHOUT FISH, by Mark Kurlansky. Illustrated by Frank Stockton. 183 pp. Workman. $16.95. (Middle grade; ages 9 and up) Smartly packaged for budding environmentalists and nascent vegans, "World Without Fish" combines zoology, oceanography, politics, food and global warming into a readable narrative. A graphic novel is woven throughout and together with photographs, and full-color illustrations creates an effective warning against a future in which tuna sandwiches are replaced by jellyfish salad. PAMELA PAUL ONLINE A slide show of this week's illustrated books at nytimes.com/books.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [April 10, 2011]
Review by Booklist Review
Diminutive cumulus Cloudette appreciates the advantages of her size, except when the bigger clouds show off by creating significant weather. After being blown to a new neighborhood by a particularly violent thunderstorm, she meets a frog in need of a pond. Summoning all her energy, she generates a respectable downpour, filling a frogworthy habitat. The creator of Bridget's Beret (2010) offers here another appealing story featuring a plucky heroine. Applying a full-color palette to his watercolor, ink, and colored-pencil cartoons, Lichtenheld makes use of varying page space and panel techniques to add subtle details to his narrative. In one spread, Cloudette puffs up, turns blue-gray, growls fiercely, and then shakes her rumbling behind; in the following, presented vertically, she happily pours. Captions within the art also add to the humor (Cloud: We knew you had it in you! ). The message that even small fry can accomplish important tasks is well suited to the intended audience; pair with other cloud overachievers, including Eric Carle's Little Cloud (1996) and Cristoph Niemann's The Police Cloud (2007).--Weisman, Kay Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Lichtenheld, the illustrator of Shark vs. Train, turns in a quieter story about a small cloud and her search for a place to fit in (if the scenario recalls 2007's The Police Cloud, rest assured Cloudette stands on her own). It's not that she isn't popular with the larger clouds-"Everybody called her cute little names"-but that she wants to do things like "make a waterfall fall," things that are "big and important." And bigger clouds have a monopoly on creating storms, watering crops, and replenishing rivers. Sprinkled with punny jokes, Lichtenheld's polished spreads show Cloudette as a simple, scalloped-edged puff who looks mighty dejected as she tries to be useful. "Sorry, it's all done by machines," explains a man outside a marvelously retro car wash. Cloudette eventually finds a fine place to rain and gathers a raft of admiring comments. That Cloudette is neither bullied nor intimidated is an important point; she's the one who feels she has a special gift to give, and she solves her problem independently. Neatly constructed and nicely pitched, the message of self-reliance comes through as clear as a cloudless day. Ages 3-7. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-3-Reminiscent of the determination and courage of The Little Engine That Could, this title delivers its message with charm. A petite cloud believes that she is not big enough to accomplish what the big clouds can: provide enough rain to water crops or replenish a flowing waterfall or river. She is inspired by the accomplishments and "good-natured" acts of her larger kin and wants to have a positive effect on the Earth. She floats over a dried-up pond with one little frog hoping for enough rain to revive it. Can Cloudette move beyond what she believes are her limitations and do great things? Lively illustrations in ink, pastels, colored pencils, and watercolors create engaging spreads and characters that tell a story above and beyond the narrative. For example Cloudette's eyes and mouth grow tighter and her color changes from white to gray to black as she builds up enough steam to form that much-needed cloudburst. A few themes emerge for discussions in this multifaceted book, and there are plenty of details for children to discover. An excellent choice for a storytime or classroom. Well done.-Anne Beier, Clifton Public Library, NJ (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
While Cloudette doesn't mind being small, she aspires to do something big-cloud important, like make a garden grow or a waterfall flow. When she comes across a desperate frog in a dried-out pond, she finally finds her inspiration--and lets loose. Invitingly unfussy mixed-media illustrations, heavy on the sky-blue, and thoughtful book design, including entertaining cloud-peanut-gallery comments, give flavor to Cloudette's journey. (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
(Picture book. 3-7)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
