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Bloom, Suzanne
13 Reviews
(3)
PS
Animal friends celebrate their differences; even though they don't do things the same way (i.e., "just like" one another), they nevertheless "just like" one another. Talents, physical traits, tastes, and preferences are all highlighted as ways of being unique--and loved. Very simple text uses repetition and rhyme. Clear watercolor and pencil illustrations allow the creatures' personalities, and their warm friendships, to shine through.
Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth
(3)
PS
After engaging readers with rhyming questions about their own nighttime routines, this enjoyable, alliterative poem counts down from ten while describing the bedtime activities of "other sleepyheads" (various animals): "Ten terribly tired tigers tiptoe to their beds. / Nine normally nimble newts rest their sleepy heads." Bloom's eye-catching compositions with whimsical details are rendered in luminous pastel on deep blue backgrounds.
Reviewer: Martha Sibert
(3)
PS
In the latest book featuring Bear, Goose, and Fox, Bear wishes he could fly. But when Goose and Bear's efforts to teach him are unsuccessful, they encourage him to dance instead: "It's like flying, but with your feet on the ground." Spare text paired with deep-blue pastel illustrations convey the trio's exuberant efforts with clarity and energy.
Reviewer: Sheila M. Geraty
(3)
PS
In the friends' latest story (Fox Forgets; Oh! What a Surprise!; etc.), Fox wonders if Bear is sitting alone because he is sad, mad, or lonely. But Bear just wants some quiet time. Simple, minimal text paired with Bloom's saturated, fuzzy-textured pastel illustrations on rich blue backgrounds spotlight the characters' feelings, revealing their caring, loving relationship despite their individual differences.
Reviewer: Sheila M. Geraty
(3)
PS
Before going out, Goose tells Fox, "I'll be right back. Be sure to tell Bear." But Fox is so busy playing, she forgets to relay the message, leaving Bear to wait and wonder. Readers will likely empathize with both Bear and Fox in this accessible, sparely written story. Rendered in pastels, the textured, eye-catching illustrations readily convey (delightfully fuzzy) Bear's anxiety.
Reviewer: Martha Sibert
(3)
PS
Barely hiding her disappointment that the gifts Bear and Goose are making aren't for her, Fox hides in a box to be her own surprise. When their real gift appears, genuinely surprised Fox relishes the gift-giving ritual. Readers can infer Fox's relatable feelings from the spare text and the illustrations, whose blue backdrops darken and lighten with Fox's mood.
Reviewer: Shoshana Flax
(4)
PS
Various children make meals from leaves, mud, and other outdoor finds. Asks the omniscient narrator: will the child eat it? ("Oh no, no, no. / It's for Lamby and Bunny and Bear.") The baby-talking prose can be grating, but toddlers will recognize their make-believing selves in the creative kids shown in gouache and colored-pencil art.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(4)
PS
Bear and Goose are playing puppets, but Fox wants to switch to a game that excludes Bear. As the characters navigate the two's-company/three's-a-crowd dynamic, it's occasionally unclear which animal is speaking. Set against a blue backdrop, Bloom's emotionally attentive pastels keep the reader's focus on the drama.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(4)
K-3
Aardvark Grant and armadillo Antoine can't get their "time machine" (it's really a cardboard box) to work. Approaching things from a different angle, anteater Sam creates a figurative time machine: a bookmobile. Though the book-as-time-machine conclusion is anticlimactic, the critters' path to this realization is entertaining. The gouache and colored-pencil illustrations are imaginative.
Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden
(4)
K-3
Goose mistakes Polar Bear's tic-tac-toe game for a treasure map, which is all the excuse he needs to go off in search of loot. The book's conclusion--the two friends find their "treasure" in each other's friendship--is bland, but Bloom's pastel illustrations in deep blues and textured whites with some accent colors show off Goose's pluck and Polar Bear's patience.
Reviewer: David Elzey
(3)
PS
When a curious goose sees a polar bear, the goose just has to know what the bear is doing. Bear can't read or write or think without the goose interrupting--until the goose returns with a snack and a note: "You are my splendid friend." Pastel illustrations add depth to the spare text and give the characters lots of distinction.
Reviewer: Patricia Riley
(3)
K-3
After Ms. Taffy wins a piglet in a radio contest, she wonders how she can possibly keep it in the city, especially as it grows. Fortunately, the community works together to clean up an empty lot, build a home for the pig, and plant a lush garden for everyone to enjoy. Loose, energetic illustrations complement the mood of this uplifting story, which has a message but doesn't preach.
Reviewer: Patricia Riley
(3)
PS
At the bus stop, young Tess asks, "Is this the bus for us, Gus?" every time an unusual vehicle goes by. While a multicultural crowd of children gathers, Gus patiently identifies each vehicle, from taxi to backhoe, until their school bus arrives. In the attractive illustrations, readers can enjoy not only the parade of vehicles but also the antics of the waiting children.
Reviewer: Martha Sibert
13 reviews
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