Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0230756093 ISBN 13: 9780230756090

Casa editrice: MacMillan Children's Books, 2011

Two crafty robbers hatch a cunning plan to steal the farmer's fine prize cow. But the quietest, tiniest creature in the farm has a plan of her own and things are going to get noisy; very noisy. With 10 amazing animal sounds, this book is a whole farmyard of fun!

About the Author:

Julia Donaldson is the UK's most successful picture book author; her titles include the acknowledged modern classic, THE GRUFFALO (978-0-333-71093-7), illustrated by Axel Scheffler and the young fiction series PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE, also illustrated by Lydia Monks. Julia's brilliant events for children at schools, libraries and literary festivals are always in demand.Lydia Monks is one of the most original picture book artists working today. Her distinctive use of colour and collage has won her critical acclaim and several awards, including the Smarties Prize.

From The Washington Post:

Parades of animals stream through these two titles -- one silly, the other sweet. Start the day with Julia Donaldson's bouncy ode to life on a noisy farm and to one special inhabitant who, unlike the other critters, "never said a word." Never, that is, until "two men in a big black van, / With a map and a key and a cunning plan" arrive to steal the "fine prize cow." That's when the smallest of all goes into action: " 'Help!' was the ladybug's very first word, / And 'Gather around' were the second and third." Flamboyant colors, zany perspectives and a neatly circular tale lead, with satisfying inevitability, to a happy outcome for all but the thieves.

End the day with A Sick Day for Amos McGee (Roaring Brook, $16.99; ages 3-5), by Philip C. Stead and illustrated by Erin E. Stead. A zookeeper by profession and an animal lover by nature, gentle, fastidious Amos McGee tends to much more than just his charges' health. He plays chess with the elephant ("who thought and thought before making a move"), runs races with the tortoise ("who never ever lost"), and spends quiet time with the penguin ("who was very shy"). In a tribute to the ineffable bond between keeper and kept, it is impossible to tell if the animals' expressions are a perfect mirror of Amos's or the other way around. And that is the crux of the story, for when Amos gets sick, it is the animals who take on the business of caring for their favorite human. Thick, creamy paper and a muted palette add to the gentle resonance of a story that ends with everyone tucked in at last for a sweet night's sleep.

Reviewed by Kristi Jemtegaard
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