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Beard, Alex
4 Reviews
(4)
K-3
"There once was a king who liked to tell lies. / He said it was day beneath the night skies." The rise and fall of a prevaricating warthog king is illustrated with undistinguished savanna-set, animal-filled art. The story's rhymes are Seussian not in cleverness but in sentiment: they favorably recall the good doctor's championing of the power of the collective voice.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(4)
K-3
As they try to discover why Crocodile is crying, Rhino and Tickbird seek out and question various African animals. Is Crocodile unhappy, they wonder, because the animals and their habitats are at risk of extinction? The illustrations, with their stylized wildlife and scenery, include some eye-catching compositions. Unfortunately, while Beard's intentions are worthy, the story is contrived. Facts about the animals are appended.
Reviewer: Martha Sibert
(4)
K-3
A bunch of competitive monkeys and their elephant friend discover amazing cave paintings. When the monkeys try to make their own art, they learn that not everything has to be a contest. Vibrant, playful pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations have a cave-painting look (the monkeys' faces were created from thumbprints). There are too many ideas going on, but at its heart, the tale celebrates creativity.
Reviewer: Sethany Rancier Alongi
(3)
K-3
In this jungle-set account of an unwitting game of Telephone, Turtle's comment ("The Watering Hole is always good for a laugh...but lately the humor has been drying up") is misinterpreted by Bird ("The Watering Hole is drying up"), and so on. Childlike pen-and-ink and watercolor double-page spreads extend beyond the bounds of their solid-line frames.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
4 reviews
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