Fiona Robinson (1) (1965–)

That castorine conductor, Mr. Herbert Timberteeth, discovers that his all-animal chorus isn't quite content with his newly composed song, "What Animals Like," in this recent picture-book from author/illustrator Fiona Robinson. With the shrimp section declaring their preference for skiing (rather than swimming), and the cows insisting that they like to dig (not "moo"), the rehearsal is soon in an uproar, and the harassed composer must revise his original lyrics, to make them reflect "What show more Animals Really Like."

An amusing book, one which sets up certain expectations in its readers, only to pop out with the unexpected, What Animals Really Like would make an excellent read-aloud selection, I suspect. I don't know that I found it as appealing as some of the friends who recommended it - humor is very personal, and I tend to go less for the slapstick, than for the sly - but I think it would work very well for young readers who appreciate the silly. Robinson's artwork is engaging, in an entertaining, cartoon-like way, and her fold-out flaps add to the fun. All in all, a sweet little book! show less

We human beings think we know, don’t we? But we don’t. And this little children’s picture book proves it. When asked to participate in a musical about what animals really want, animals at first comply and reply with stereotypical animal likes but, gradually, as the musical progresses, the animals begin to rebel and answer from their quirky animal hearts.

Like all really good picture books, this book can be about more than the real preferences of kangaroos and cows. With foldout pages show more and big bright illustrations that make the real book much, much better than an e-book.

“We are monkeys, and we like to play.
We are horses, and we like fresh hay.
We are worms, and we like to wiggle.
We are warthogs, and we like to…
…blow enormous bubbles.

Blow enormous bubbles?
Stop! Stop!
That’s not in my song.” show less

As posted on Outside of a Dog:

Ah, the humor that comes from subverted expectations. Comedians the world over had made millions laugh with such verbal sleight of hand. One of the latest entries to this grand tradition of humor is What Animals Really Like by Fiona Robinson. Here we get the story of "legendary conductor Mr. Herbert Timberteeth" (excellent name, a beaver by trade), and his latest musical masterpiece. A whole menagerie of animals has come out to perform this latest opus, but show more little does Mr. Timberteeth know that his performers have a mind of their own. It all starts well: we have lions who like to prowl, wolves who like to howl, pigeons who like to coo and cows, who like to...dig. Dig!? It all goes downhill from there, as the animals take over and sing their own version of the song with things they really like to do. Did you know lions like flower arranging? Neither did I. Robinson's art, done in pen and ink and marker pens is imaginative, colorful and downright gleeful. Just imagine the expressions of some shrimp declaring their love of skiing. We also get a few wonderful shots of the listening audience, mere peering eyeballs in the darkness of the theater. The cover is a little bit of genius, bursting with animals in fancy dress preparing for the coming performance. The only thing that could have made this better would have been some giraffes. Seriously, where were the giraffes? This is going to be a wonderful read-aloud, perhaps well paired with JoAnn Early Macken's Baby Says "Moo"!. show less

Given the fact that relatively few women work in science, math, and engineering, Ada’s Ideas shines a light on Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) a woman well ahead of her time. Computer-language endpapers create a mathematical mindset from the start, yet the fantastical art (Ada astride a winged horse) and the book’s opening line, “Once there was a girl named Ada who dreamed of making a steam-powered flying horse” create a quite suitably different mood. The daughter of poet, Lord Byron and show more mathematician Anne Milbanke was schooled in all things mathematical, but even though she never knew her father (her mother left him when Ada was only two), Ada was singularly creative and found the poetry in mathematics. Born during the Industrial Revolution, Ada was entranced by machines and grew up to be intrigued by Charles Babbage’s designs for what would be the prototype of the modern computer. Ada created an algorithm to compute a complicated series of numbers, and while young readers won’t understand the mathematics, they will appreciate the illustrations conveying the “Bernoulli numbers.” Whimsical collages that create a 3-D effect aptly illustrate this unusual picture book biography and convey the need for imagination in the world of mathematics. show less