CM Magazine: A Little Something.

________________ CM . . . . Volume VI Number 2 . . . . September 17, 1999

A Little Something.

Sarah Hartt-Snowbell. Illustrated by June Bradford.
Toronto, ON: Napoleon Publishing, 1998.
35 pp., pbk., $8.95.
ISBN 0-929141-60-1.

Subject Headings:
Voyages and travels-Juvenile fiction.
Kissing-Juvenile fiction.
Animals-Juvenile fiction.

Preschool - Kindergarten / Ages 2 - 5.
Review by Joan Simpson.

** /4

In this whimsical fantasy in rhyme, a young girl and her mother pursue a Little Something that is searching for a place to land. They pursue it through their town, to the county zoo, to foreign lands, through the skies, and under the sea - until nightfall forces them to return home. Miraculously, the Little Something (a kiss blown by Daddy as he left for work that morning) returns to land on the little girl's cheek as she sleeps. Many of the verses in this poem are delightful: "A Little Something tumbled through the big front door. It did a twirly somersault and landed on the floor." But others extend the poem and add little: "No one heard a crash or a splat or ker-plunk or a rattle or a clatter or a clang or a clunk." And additional length is not something this poem needed. The sing-song cadence, which appeals to very young children, becomes tiresome long before the journey ends.
Bradford's vibrant watercolour illustrations capture the playful mood of the poem. Animals with captivatingly expressive faces spill out of frames and off pages. Children can follow a little mouse as well as the Little Something from page to page. The human figures are not as well done but are acceptable.

Recommended with reservations.

Joan Simpson is the teacher-librarian at Dalhousie Elementary School in Winnipeg, MB.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE -September 17, 1999.