Synopses & Reviews
A sudden summer thunderstorm sends the squirrel children scampering. It’s a hot summer afternoon. Nothing is stirring. Not the frogs, not the flowers, not even the grass. Then suddenly birds are flocking overhead. Small animals are racing for shelter. The rain starts pouring down. Thunder booms. Lightning cracks and flashes. Mick, Mack, and Molly are caught in the midst of one of the most exciting moments of summer: a sudden summer thunderstorm. It can be scary, but for the three squirrel children, safe and dry in a cave, it brings new friends.
Review
Praise for Hooray For Snow:
The action in this Japanese author/artist's English-language debut is low-key: three diminutive squirrels go sledding with their father, and Papa, initially reluctant, discovers that sledding keeps you warm in the cold. The rewards lie in Iwamura's exquisitely rendered winter landscapes, inked with whispering lines and colored with the palest of tints. He has a talent for imagining what the world looks like to small creatures. While the squirrels' pointy ears, fluffy tails and matching sweaters make them embraceably cute, the forest they live in is painted in noble proportions, with gigantic mist-covered tree trunks (only the lowest foot or two of which are shown, in accordance with the squirrel's-eye view), grasses weighed down under coats of snow and delicate branches outlined in white. No detail is overlooked; even the two eyelet screws that hold the rope to the sled are clearly drawn. The single interior scene, with its squirrel-sized Japanese teapot and teacup sitting by the woodstove, repays a long look, too.From Publishers Weekly
Review
Praise for Hooray for Spring:It’s springtime, and young squirrels Mick, Mack, and Molly are exploring treetops around their tree-trunk home. As they climb excitedly through the branches, they discover a caterpillar eating leaves, bees “sucking the nectar from the blossoms,” and then a hungry baby bird—but what does it want to eat? Not the pinecones or cherry blossoms that the squirrel trio kindly offers. Then mama bird returns with a worm, and the squirrels watch in amazement as the baby bird opens wide. Back home, the squirrels retell the story to Mama and Papa during their own mealtime. The charming color illustrations, filled with cute, cartoonish animal characters, convey the wonder and beauty of spring. Children will enjoy the entertaining details in the intricately rendered pictures, from the squirrel family’s clothing to their walnut-shell dishes, and the lively dialogue among the characters will make this an upbeat story hour choice. Preschool-Kindergarten. –Booklist
Synopsis
A sudden summer thunderstorm sends the squirrel children scampering.
It s a hot summer afternoon. Nothing is stirring. Not the frogs, not the flowers, not even the grass. Then suddenly birds are flocking overhead. Small animals are racing for shelter. The rain starts pouring down. Thunder booms. Lightning cracks and flashes. Mick, Mack, and Molly are caught in the midst of one of the most exciting moments of summer: a sudden summer thunderstorm. It can be scary, but for the three squirrel children, safe and dry in a cave, it brings new friends."
About the Author
KAZUO IWAMURA studied at the Tokyo National University of Fine arts and Music and started his career as an illustrator for children’s television programs, he lives in Mashiko, outside Tokyo, with his family.