Brewster the Rooster

April 30, 2007
Brewster is crowing at strangely inappropriate times and it's driving everyone on the farm crazy. The cock-a-doodle-do that he lets loose when Grandma's flipping hotcakes "sent the poor woman reeling./ She shrieked at the sound,/ started slipping around,/ and got batter all over the ceiling." All the grownups are stumped until Little Julie-"the youngest and often ignored"-figures it out: Brewster needs glasses, and until he gets them, he's going to keep mistaking things that are "light, big, round and bright," for the sun. Scillian (A Is for America) takes his time unreeling Brewster's verse story, which may try the patience of some readers, but White's (The House Takes a Vacation) hyperbolic pictures move matters along. Although visually Brewster himself never quite fills the comic shoes that the text lays out for him-in fact, he often seems incidental to the compositions-White's technique of combining velvety textures with angular, exaggerated shapes is eye-catching, and there's enough slapstick to satisfy young funny bones. Grownups looking to inspire a first-time glasses wearer, however, will probably want to look elsewhere. Ages 4-8

August 1, 2007
K-Gr 2-Why would a prizewinning rooster crow when the sun isn't rising? This story in rhyming verse introduces the Macintosh farm's champion rooster as family members start to question his health. Brewster's outbursts truly threaten the family peace; he lets loose as young Topper throws a ball, as bald Zeb begins to paint the barn, when Grandma Pearl flips her hotcakes, and as Magnolia leans over to plant daisiesall with disastrous results. Even kindly Doc Sawyer remains puzzled and on the receiving end of the rooster's cacophony until little Julie Macintosh proposes the entertaining reason for Brewster's startling diversions. A bold palette of soft-focus warm colors highlights the whimsical, off-centered eyes and eyebrows of Brewster and the Macintosh clan. Images fly past page boundaries, and readers view the action from multiple perspectives in a haze of color. An original tale that's a visual delight."Mary Elam, Forman Elementary School, Plano, TX"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 21, 2007
Brewster is crowing at strangely inappropriate times and it's driving everyone on the farm crazy. The cock-a-doodle-do that he lets loose when Grandma's flipping hotcakes "sent the poor woman reeling./ She shrieked at the sound, / started slipping around, / and got batter all over the ceiling." All the grownups are stumped until Little Julie-"the youngest and often ignored"-figures it out: Brewster needs glasses, and until he gets them, he's going to keep mistaking things that are "light, big, round and bright," for the sun. Scillian (A Is for America) takes his time unreeling Brewster's verse story, which may try the patience of some readers, but White's (The House Takes a Vacation) hyperbolic pictures move matters along. Although visually Brewster himself never quite fills the comic shoes that the text lays out for him-in fact, he often seems incidental to the compositions-White's technique of combining velvety textures with angular, exaggerated shapes is eye-catching, and there's enough slapstick to satisfy young funny bones. Grownups looking to inspire a first-time glasses wearer, however, will probably want to look elsewhere. Ages 4-8

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2007
Whats wrong with Brewster? Instead of waking up the farm every morning with his prize-winning crowing, he crows at very odd times: when young Topper is ready to throw a ball; when Zeb is standing on a ladder painting the barn; when Grandma Pearl is flipping hotcakes; and when Magnolia is watering her daisies. The family takes Brewster to Doc Sawyer, who says fever, flu, and infected feathers are unlikely, so he tapes up Brewsters beak. Then little Julie pipes up, He needs glasses! Of course. All of the strange incidents that caused the rooster to crow are sunlike shapes and colors. Luckily, the doc is also a rooster optician, who helps the newly bespectacled Brewster to crow right on time. The exaggerated illustrations heighten the humor of the comic figures and whimsically rhymed story. Though kids wont necessarily pick up the nearsighted clues, theyll find Brewster is a fowlishly funny rooster.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)