Olivier Dunrea is the creator of beautiful and well-loved children's books. A painter and a sculptor, his work centers around farms, animals, architecture, and folklore. He lives in the tiny village of Narrowsburg, New York, in the Catskill Mountains.
To his fetching flock of goslings (Gossie & Gertie; Ollie) Dunrea adds two welcome and worthy feathered friends. Each of these tiny creatures, like their predecessors, has a distinct personality and a penchant for doing something that will spark recognition in adults and youngsters alike. "Peedie forgets things. Even when Mama Goose reminds him." And BooBoo is a curious blue gosling who "likes to eat from morning till night. Every day." There is one thing that Peedie never forgets, however: to wear his lucky red baseball cap. Well, almost never. When one day he puts the hat in a "secret place" but forgets where, his search for it turns up some endearing images: only the gosling's webbed feet stick up as he looks in the pond; and again, only his bottom half is visible as he searches under a flower pot. BooBoo's insatiable appetite compels her to visit other farm animals and sample their rations, each time announcing, with kid-pleasing repetition, "Good food." But she discovers that she likes to eat almost but not quite "everything" after swallowing a soap bubble, which results in a comical succession of burps, and a burst of bubbles. Dunrea's simply charming ink-and-watercolor art reveals an endearing supporting cast of diminutive critters (turtle, spider, snail) observing the goslings' antics. In what may be a good omen for fans of this growing gang, Peedie finds his lost cap atop a gosling egg. Ages 2-5. (Aug.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
PreS-Gr 1-A new twosome joins Dunrea's gaggle of geese stories. BooBoo will eat anything and everything-from the contents of her own plate to the chicken's grain to weeds, all to the refrain of "Good food." When she ingests a bubble that floats above the pond, she can't stop burping until she sips a bit of water and proclaims, "Good food." The last picture shows her reaching her beak toward a beehive. Peedie is easily distracted and, therefore, a forgetful gosling. His lucky red baseball cap is the only thing he consistently remembers until he decides to put it in a secret place and temporarily loses it. His search results in a happy ending. Though perhaps not as strongly plotted as Gossie and Gossie and Gertie (both Houghton, 2002), these offerings still share a winsome sensibility that invites audiences to delight in the fowls' antics. The simple artwork features plenty of white space, bright colors, and a clean line that attracts the eye. Dunrea's feathered characters have the look and feel of preschoolers rapt in their own discovery of the world. The texts have short sentences, repetition, and a rhythm that make them just right for even the youngest toddlers.-Marge Loch-Wouters, Menasha's Public Library, WI Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Dunrea's feathered characters have the look and feel of
preschoolers rapt in their own discovery of the world.
Dunrea's simply charming ink-and-watercolor art reveals an
endearing cast of diminutive critters.
It is the cleanly designed and sometimes humorous
ink-and-water-color artwork that gives these small books their
irresistable charm.
The ink-and-watercolor illustrations are as simple as the text, and
small children will recognize and related to each story's tiny arc
and resolution.
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