A Greyhound, a Groundhog - Hardcover

Jenkins, Emily

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0553498053 ISBN 13: 9780553498059

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade, 2017

Synopsis

"Spare text and fun wordplay invites a closer look at the clever illustrations that are full of action." - Seira Wilson, Amazon Editor

"But what Emily Jenkins and Chris Appelhans’ lyrical collaboration is really about is the intoxicating thrill of friendship, and boundless joy of play..." –The New York Times

A “merry read-aloud.” –The Wall Street Journal

From a heavyweight author and illustrator duo comes a delicious tongue twister of a picture book that features a little round greyhound and a little round groundhog.

With very spare, incredibly lively language, this is an entertaining read-aloud, with two amazing—and oh-so-adorable—characters at its heart.
 
When a greyhound meets a groundhog, wordplay and crazy antics ensue. The two animals, much like kids, work themselves into a frenzy as they whirl around and around one another. (Around, round hound. Around, groundhog!) The pace picks up (Around and around and astound and astound!), until they ultimately wear themselves out.

“Jenkins’s masterful text is deceptively simple.” —NPR on Toys Meet Snow by Emily Jenkins
 
“Appelhans, whose career up to now has been in animated films such as Coraline, is a revelation.” —Booklist, Starred, on Sparky!, illustrated by Chris Appelhans
 
“Appelhans makes an auspicious picture book debut with strikingly beautiful watercolor and pencil illustrations. His style, reminiscent of Jon Klassen’s, incorporates a muted color palette, but with a slightly softer, rounder quality, while also weaving in visual deadpan humor.” —The Horn Book

About this title

About the Author:

Emily Jenkins has written many highly acclaimed books for children, including the picture book Toys Meet Snow, a New York Times Notable Book and a Wall Street Journal Best Children’s Book of the Year, and the popular, award-winning chapter books that feature the same beloved characters, Toys Go Out, Toy Dance Party, and Toys Come Home. She is also the author of A Fine Dessert, a New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year; Water in the Park, a Booklist Editors’ Choice and a Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book; and Lemonade in Winter, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year. Visit the author at emilyjenkins.com.
 
Chris Appelhans was selected as the Children’s Choice Illustrator of the Year at the Children’s Choice Book Awards for Sparky!, written by Jenny Offill. The book received two starred reviews, including one from Booklist declaring, “Appelhans is a revelation.” Chris has also worked on several films, as an illustrator and a production designer for Coraline, an environment designer for Fantastic Mr. Fox, and a visual development artist for The Princess and the Frog.

From School Library Journal:

PreS-Gr 2—In a picture book that demands to be read aloud, a greyhound and a groundhog spin in visual and verbal circles. A limited gray and brown watercolor palette—and an equally limited selection of consonant and vowel sounds—characterize this phonologically clever, fundamentally joyful, and subtly unified picture book. Words, text, and creatures begin in simple lines (the words "A hound. A round hound" are printed in a straight line above a sleeping greyhound on the first page), but all three increasingly start to rotate (the sentence, "The ground and a hog and some grey and a dog" later curves around the page, accompanied by a whirling, tongue-lolling canine). Just as readers grow accustomed to the muted colors and tongue twisters ("Around, round hound/Around, groundhog!"), both begin to change: "around and around" becomes "and astound" as the greyhound—fully facing readers for the first time—notices one butterfly, and then more, come into the visual field, bringing with them the latent pinks, blues, and purples that an observant viewer will have seen hiding in the grays all along. The butterflies soon fly off the edge of the page, but the amazement lingers as the eponymous animals, finally worn out, settle in for a nap...accompanied by newly restraightened, resimplified text. VERDICT A lovely, lyrical paean to the natural order, with an element of wonder and grace. Perfect for one-on-one and group sharing.—Jill Ratzan, Congregation Kol Emet, Yardley, PA

About this edition

• Publisher: Schwartz & Wade
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0553498053
• ISBN 13: 9780553498059
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Appelhans Chris