Look Out, Suzy Goose

Look Out, Suzy Goose by Petr Horáček
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I picked this up to read at a storytime I did in April, and I honestly can't remember whether I ended up using it. It's a cute story about a goose who goes to the woods to escape the loud honking of her flock and is blissfully unaware of the predators stalking her (and each other). There are repeated sounds that kids can say with you (i.e. flip flop, creep creep, honk, etc.), which give great opportunities for interactivity, and you can have the children try and predict what will happen at the end. But I'm doubtful about the authenticity of the food chain depicted. Foxes might see geese as prey, but how often do wolves see foxes as food, or bears eat wolves & foxes & geese? And would any of those predators be scared off by an owl hooting? Maybe??

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Nilo and the Tortoise

Nilo and the Tortoise by Ted Lewin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The story is pretty simple: Nilo is a young boy who gets left behind on a small island in the Galapagos Islands when he is playing ashore while his father's boat gets repaired. While Nilo's away from the beach, the rope tied to the anchor breaks, sweeping the boat out to sea. Nilo is remarkably calm about this and explores the island until his father can return to him the following day. In the meantime, he sees an angry bull sea lion, many different birds, the volcano's caldera, and a large tortoise, who lets Nilo sleep next to him.

In all honesty, the watercolor illustrations are so detailed and beautiful, I hardly noticed the words on the page. I was in such awe of the artwork!! I'm so glad we own a copy of this book, so I can sit and stare at the paintings as long as I want (or really, as long as my children will let me).

5+ stars for the artwork. 3.5 for the story (which is sweet but not "amazing"). The average is therefore 4.25...although I am tempted to round up to 5 anyway purely due to how much I love the watercolors.

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