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Summary
Summary
Poor Lenore! None of the other animals at Bedlam Farm welcome her. Even Rose the border collie is too busy to play. But Lenore refuses to give up, and when she licks a grumpy ram named Brutus--right on the nose!--an unexpected friendship begins.
Author Notes
Jonathan Katz initially worked as a reporter and editor for The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Boston Globe and The Washington Post, and later as executive producer of the CBS Morning News. Jon Katz is now a media critic, a journalist, and the author of several books covering a vast repertoire of topics.
Katz has written several novels as well as non-fiction works which cover topics ranging from geek culture to his relationship with dogs. His titles include The Story of Rose, Dancing Dogs, A Good Dog, Meet the Dogs of Bedlam Farm and The Second Chance Dog: A Love Story.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Kirkus Review
Lenore the black Lab befriends a cranky ram named Brutus in another entry in the popular streak of recent stories focusing on unlikely animal pals. Katz continues to chronicle life on his farm in upstate New York with his second book for children, following Meet the Dogs of Bedlam Farm (2011). When Lenore arrives at the farm as a boisterous puppy, she tries to engage Rose, the border collie who herds the sheep of Bedlam Farm. Rose ignores Lenore, so the puppy buddies up to Brutus the ram, giving him "kisses" on his nose and following him around the farm. At first, Rose tries to intervene, but eventually she accepts Lenore as part of the farm family. Though the story anthropomorphizes the dogs and ram a bit too much, the appealing photographs clearly convey Lenore's winning personality with some touching shots of sad puppy eyes and sweet interactions between the Lab and the ram. The intriguing subject matter, large type size and short sentence length make this suitable for beginning readers as well as younger children. Bedlam Farm seems an idyllic spot with a natural appeal to children, who are likely to ask for more about Lenore. (author's note) (Picture book. 4-8)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Two of the canine stars of Meet the Dogs of Bedlam Farm (2011) return in this gentle true story of interspecies affection. Katz again pulls double-duty as writer and photographer and hooks readers from the first spread: When Lenore came to Bedlam Farm, she was just a puppy. None of the other animals wanted to be her friend. This, of course, is paired with a heart-melting shot of a lonely-looking puppy. Katz skillfully uses the repetition of a picture book to continue the story: The rooster crowed at her. The donkey tried to kick her. The goats just jeered. The plot soon becomes a three-character struggle between Lenore, the ram she kisses in hopes of making a friend, and border collie Rose, who disapproves of the relationship: Why would a dog want to be friends with a ram? Katz's photos, too, share the compositional traits of a picture book, with characters effectively foregrounded or split off into opposing halves of a frame to signal rumination or opposition. It's irresistible, of course small, personal, and heartwarming.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2010 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
Harvest APPLE Written and illustrated by Nikki McClure. 40 pp. Abrams Appleseed. $12.95. (Picture book; ages 3 to 6) McClure's homage to the old-fashioned apple lands like a spirited rebuke to packaged baggies of presliced fruit and G.M. apples that never rot. Her trademark block cutouts, pared down here to black, white and red delicious, travel backward from ripe fruit to planted seed, well timed for an autumn tale about seasons and renewal. The art is gorgeous, the text is one-word-per-page minimal and the "story" is sprinkled with welcome surprises. An apple swings from its tree; a girl hides an apple in her backpack on her way to school and forgets it on the ground at recess. Think a new tree will grow there? LITTLE SWEET POTATO By Amy Beth Bloom. Illustrated by Noah Z. Jones. 32 pp. Katherine Tegen Books. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 7) Poor sweet potato - all that vitamin C, and still lumped together with the stuff of French fries. Bloom, a National Book Award finalist for grown-ups, turns her pen to picture books and sweet potatoes in this heartfelt and heartwarming debut about a tuber who doesn't fit in. The carrots are disdainful. The eggplants, full of themselves. "You're a lumpy, bumpy, dumpy vegetable, and we're beautiful," the flowers sneer. Luckily, in this mean-kids parable, Little Sweet Potato finds a more accepting patch of flora to plant himself in. Probably organic, too. SEED BY SEED The Legend and Legacy of John "Appleseed" Chapman. By Esmé Raji Codell. Illustrated by Lynne Rae Perkins. 32 pp. Greenwillow Books/ HarperCollins Publishers. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) Codell asks readers to seat themselves at a window, looking out over a highway-covered landscape and imagine a "quiet, tree-bough-tangled world, the world before the cement was poured and the lights turned on." Codell's lilting text and Perkins's sumptuous landscapes will have urban parents ready to up-and-to-the-country. But stick around for the man's frontier life story, told here inspiration style. This is Johnny Appleseed - pioneer, reader, vegetarian, spiritualist, businessman, friend of American Indians and tamer of wolves. He planted apple seeds, too. CREEPY CARROTS By Aaron Reynolds. Illustrated by Peter Brown. 40 pp. Simon & Schuster. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) Zombies, bullies, root vegetables - they're all pretty scary to children. Especially when combined in an oversize carrot. Playing off a child's worst nightmare, Reynolds shows how carrots suddenly seem to lurk in every corner, tormenting a poor bunny. The stark and atmospheric illustrations by Brown ("Children Make Terrible Pets"), working exclusively in shades of gray save the garish orange of the vegetables in question, are simply splendid. But be warned: for the 5-year-old faint of heart, the story may sting too sharply. READY FOR PUMPKINS Written and illustrated by Kate Duke. 40 pp. Alfred A. Knopf. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 5 to 8) Duke ("Our Guinea Pig Is Not Enough") introduces Hercules, first-grade rodent, in a multilayered tale about time, the seasons and the long, impatient wait for a full-grown pumpkin to pick. Abandoning the formula for class-pet tales, Duke shows Hercules to have a life outside the classroom. When the teacher takes Herky to her country home for the summer, he discovers his horticultural side. Especially marvelous is what Herky's accomplishment shows children: animals and plants have lives and life cycles of their own. PAMELA PAUL Woof BAILEY AT THE MUSEUM Written and illustrated by Harry Bliss. 32 pp. Scholastic Press. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 6) First Bailey wanted to go to school ("Bailey"). Now he wants to leave the classroom for school trips. Who can blame him when the destination is the American Museum of Natural History, that staple setting for great children's literature? Bliss's student-filled scenes recall the adventures of Ms. Frizzle's crew, with Bailey asking all the good questions. Bliss, who draws cartoons for The New Yorker, throws in choice asides for grown-ups (on the lunch menu: Soy Stuff, marked "Almost Organic"). BOOT & SHOE Written and illustrated by Marla Frazee. 40 pp. Beach Lane Books. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) A genius at capturing human expression and antics, Frazee ("The Seven Silly Eaters," "The Boss Baby," "Clementine") seems equally unrivaled at depicting canine behavior and emotion. Boot and Shoe are brothers who live peacefully in the same home, sharing food bowl and bed, but then each retreating to his own porch for rest and contemplation. One day, a scampering squirrel mixes things up; chaos ensues. Expertly drawn, full of humor and affection and beautifully arranged, "Boot & Shoe" is a jubilant romp from beginning to end. READY OR NOT, HERE COMES SCOUT! By Jill Abramson and Jane O'Connor. Illustrated by Deborah Melmon. 32 pp. Viking. $15.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) Small, cute, overeager and indiscriminately affectionate is an apt way to describe a certain alpha-strain of preschooler. Or a puppy. And really, what's the difference? Especially when the puppy, Scout, has her very own lovey too, and just wants to play and make friends. Abramson, the executive editor of The New York Times, and O'Connor, author of the phenomenally popular "Fancy Nancy" books, are sisters and co-authors of this picture book inspired by Abramson's Puppy Diaries blog and subsequent grown-up book. Billed as "A Puppy Diaries Book," Scout's friendly tale is clearly the first in a series. Note the cliffhanger: Will Taco ever warm to Scout's overtures? We need not ask the same of readers. LENORE FINDS A FRIEND A True Story From Bedlam Farm. By Jon Katz. 32 pp. Henry Holt & Company. $15.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) A follow-up to "Meet the Dogs of Bedlam Farm," Lenore's genial true tale, told through lively animal photography and sweet, descriptive text, works as a stand-alone. Lenore is the last of five working dogs on Katz's upstate New York farm, and none of the other dogs want to be friends with her. (A puppy portrait reveals the obvious: jealousy.) One day, Lenore approaches Brutus, "a grumpy ram," and gives him a big kiss on the nose. "Brutus had never been kissed before. He turned away." But not for long. This is a story about friendship, and eventually, Brutus cottons to Lenore's affections. Others soon do the same. LULU WALKS THE DOGS By Judith Viorst. Illustrated by Lane Smith. 145 pp. Atheneum. $15.99. (Middle grade; ages 6 to 10) Viorst's narrator-heroine, enjoying a fresh turn after "Lulu and the Brontosaurus," is full of 'tude and doesn't care if you don't like it. A child of entitlement, Lulu is nonetheless told she needs to earn money for her latest heart's desire. Dog walking teaches her a lesson. Lulu feels like a cousin of, and a step up the chapter book ladder in difficulty from, Junie B. Jones. Smith's sharp-eyed charcoals add kick. PAMELA PAUL ONLINE A slide show of this week's illustrated books at nytimes.com/books.