Kit Chase

Three friends - Lulu the bird, Oliver the elephant, and Charlie the rabbit - enjoy playing together, until a game of hide-and-seek reveals that Oliver has trouble with trees. They are either too tall or too small for an elephant, and when the friends finally find one just right, it is too weak to hold the pachyderm. Is this the end for these playmates, or can Lulu and Charlie come up with a solution to include their downhearted friend...?

Apparently a debut for author/artist Kit Chase, who much like Emily Winfield Martin had a preexisting Etsy following before launching into children's books, Oliver's Tree is a sweet, warmhearted little picture-book, pairing an engaging and ultimately satisfying narrative about friendship and play with adorable artwork. Oliver himself is so cute, and Chase captures his joy and sadness quite well in her watercolor paintings. I appreciated the way in which Oliver's friends work to include him, when difficulties first arise in their games, and think this offers a positive model for young readers/listeners. I see that there are subsequent titles about this trio of friends - Lulu's Party and Charlie's Boat. I will have to see about tracking those down.… (mere)

Kit Chase writes sweet and friendly books about a group of little animals who have everyday adventures, squabbles, and joys.

In this latest book, a sweet little kangaroo and a shy koala bond over the simple delights of bubbles. The friendly yellow kangaroo, with soft red cheeks, is blowing blue bubbles. When she sees some yellow bubbles, she follows the trail to discover another creature blowing bubbles - a koala!

But when Kangaroo tries to talk to Koala, Koala hides in the tree. Kangaroo starts to leave, but then the bubbles start again. The yellow and blue bubbles join into a delightful green bubble party. But then the green bubbles make a monster! Will Koala come down from the tree to help their new friend?

Chase's soft watercolors make these cozy stories come to life with red-cheeked little animals and light touches of pastels against a white background. Friendly little Kangaroo, bouncing up and down in her eagerness to make a new friend, and shy little Koala, nervous around this new bouncy person, are adorable. It's nice that the characters didn't default to male pronouns, as usually seems to happen. I was a little disappointed that Koala ended up talking - it would have been a nice, unique ending for them to continue their non-verbal communication, and would have definitely added to my audience as I have a large population of special needs kids and would love to read a book about how you don't have to be verbal to be friends.

Verdict: A sweet little story about friendship. An additional purchase, especially if you have fans of Kit Chase.

ISBN: 9780399545740; Published 2018 by Dial/Penguin; Review copy provided by the publisher; Donated to the library… (mere)

I really love Kit Chase's "Playtime with Friends" series. Sometimes you just need that sweet, gentle picture book for a cozy read.

In this latest installment, Charlie, Oliver, and Lulu are all fishing. Oliver is big enough to wade and fish with his trunk, Lulu can flutter and fish with her claws, but all Charlie can catch from the river bank are sticks! He's feeling very down about his pile of sticks, until he comes up with a solution - building little boats! But when Lulu and Oliver come to join him, they're much better at building boats. Will Charlie ever get to fish - or be good at anything?

Chase's delicate watercolors show a landscape reminiscent of Ernest Shepard's famous illustrations for Winnie-the-Pooh, complete with little stick boats, a friendly rushing river, and cozy small animals with rosy cheeks.

This sweet and gentle story of friendship and helping each other out is the perfect choice for a cozy storytime or a quiet bedtime story - perhaps to be followed by creating your own stick boats to float or thinking about how different friends can work together.

Verdict: Not an absolutely necessary choice, but a strong addition to any picture book collection on friendship, working together, and thinking outside the box.

ISBN: 9780399257025; Published 2017 by G. P. Putnam's Sons; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library… (mere)