Joyce Dunbar

One day, Willa Rabbit is the first one to wake up. She tries to make her own breakfast, but she’s too small to reach anything. Luckily, her brother, Willoughby, is older . . . and bigger . . . and he tells her about all the things she will be able to do for herself once she is big.

A gentle tale about growing up, this charmingly-illustrated picture book sets just the right tone to reassure readers both big and small.

Recommended.

Oh my goodness. Almost too sweet, but not quite. Comforting to adults as well as to children. And best of all, the happy things don't depend much at all on the circumstances of the family. Almost everyone has slippers, can hear birdsong (or at least calls or coos), and has breakfast.

Ten little mice make for home in this countdown picture-book from author Joyce Dunbar and illustrator Maria Majewska. Starting out together in a garden, and moving to various other locales over the course of the day - an underground tunnel, a little pool, the sheep pasture - the mice decide, one by one, to seek their cozy nests. By the time night falls, they are comfortably snoozing...

First published in 1990, Ten Little Mice is the first book I have read from Dunbar, but the third, after show more Oscar Mouse Finds a Home and A Friend for Oscar Mouse, from Majewska. I tracked it down, as it happens, because I enjoyed her artwork in those other murine tales. She certainly seems to enjoy depicting mice! This one is a cute little tale, with rhythmic text and beautiful illustrations. I particularly enjoyed the way in which the artist made sure to make each mouse figure distinctive. Recommended to fans of Maria Majewska, and to anyone looking for fun, beautifully-illustrated counting books. show less

An oversize format and the intriguing juxtaposition of large and little make for a fetching picture book from the team behind Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go to Sleep. Giant Baby Bear stumbles across a thimble-size "something" while playing in the woods one day, and takes the tiny creature home with him. Though the ursine fellow's size frightens the "Very Small," he cheers up when his new friend builds him a playground with a seesaw made from a pencil and spool, and shares his dinner show more (the miniature guest eats "one whole pea and five whole crumbs of bread"). After a bath, the new friends snuggle down for the night until a sneeze from Giant Baby Bear sends Very Small flying serendipitously back to his own parents. Dunbar's catchy, well-paced sentences (the bear's mother "gave a great big grin, showing all her great big teeth"), inspire Gliori's autumn-toned watercolors, which make the most of the contrasting sizes. show less