Praise for Audrey and Don WoodIT'S DUFFY TIME!A 2012 Parents' Choice FunStuff Award Winner"The Woods have a sure-handed knack for showing the daily life of a dog in a way that is not only funny but will connect with kids establishing their own routines. The watercolors mark time as well, moving from the golden warmth of the day to the cooler shadings of dusk, and finally into the soft gold of a home's interior at night. Endearing and comforting."—BOOKLISTBLUE SKY* "A high-voltage stimulus package that encourages close observation of and imaginative thinking about nature, not to mention playing with print to express ideas."—KIRKUS REVIEWS, starred reviewALPHABET ADVENTURE"This unusual alphabet book boasts not only a clever, original, and engaging story but also lavish, computer-generated pictures by the author's son."—BOOKLISTTEN LITTLE FISH"The circular story and the bouncing rhymes, which create just the right suspense with each page turn, will encourage preschoolers to gleefully chant along."—BOOKLIST"The holistic story bubbles with life's endless cycle."—KIRKUS REVIEWSTHE DEEP BLUE SEA: A BOOK OF COLORS"Uncluttered spreads, brilliant colors, and tropical setting, populated with a few winsome creatures, will draw toddlers who are beginning to tackle the basics."—BOOKLISTKING BIDGOOD'S IN THE BATHTUBA Caldecott Honor BookAn ALA Notable BookTHE NAPPING HOUSEA NEW YORK TIMES Best Illustrated Book of the YearWinner of the Golden Kite Award
"The Birthday Queen does everything possible to make sure birthday celebrations are perfect.
It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it. Invitations need to be written and sent. Clowns must be carefully screened. And of course, every single birthday game must be tried and approved. But when it comes to readers’ birthdays? The Birthday Queen steps it up a notch. She whips up a celebration at a moment’s notice, complete with cake to exact specifications, beautifully wrapped presents and balloons that fly into place as soon as the guests arrive. Just who is the Birthday Queen? If "you" look closely—the narration is in the second person—beneath the jeweled crown and past the bright rainbow dress, readers just may recognize someone special in their own family (so long as their mothers are white and present). In a wild frenzy reminiscent of a Candy Land board explosion, colors burst forth from every page. The Birthday Queen herself is not pretty in pink; she is a brightly rouged, belly-laughing, apple-cheeked blonde. Kids will get swept up in the birthday excitement, while adult readers will recognize the small moments of manic preparation—which always "magically" turn out in the end. It’s just too bad, given the seemingly inclusive direct address, that this queen-cum-mom is ethnically specific, leaving kids whose moms are not white out in the cold.
A sly, though problematic, nod of appreciation to mothers, hidden behind streamers, confetti and a mouthful of cake." - Kirkus Reviews
"If Christmas has Santa Claus and teeth have the Tooth Fairy, why not a Birthday Queen for birthdays? The Woods (It’s Duffy Time!) imagine a magical, multitasking regent who’s an indefatigable combination of party planner, Underwriters Laboratory (? When her clowns are invited to parties, the Birthday Queen must make sure they are funny?), fixer (if the bakery screws up a cake order, she whips up a substitute), and hostess with the mostess. Any resemblance between the Birthday Queen and a young celebrant’s mother, is, of course, coincidental. Audrey Wood’s short, breezy prose and Don Wood’s candy-colored spreads, which mingle slapstick with surrealism, hold sentimentality at bay; a gift-wrapping scene is a riot of wrapping paper, tape, and birthday magic, which comes courtesy of the queen’s three wands. But let’s face it: this is a tribute intended to spark at least the flickers of gratitude in the hearts of birthday boys and girls. As such, it’s more likely to be appreciated by Birthday Queens themselves (or anyone else who’s helmed a children’s party) than by those whose birthdays are being celebrated." - Publishers Weekly
PreS-Gr 2—Somewhere, in a colorful palace crowned with a star and ringed with candles, the Birthday Queen is busy preparing a party. She tastes cakes, practices games, and auditions clowns. She decorates with three snaps of her fingers. Unfortunately, what could have been a celebration of the magic of birthdays is flawed by a second-person narration that might be confusing to young listeners and an ending that does not jibe with the fantastical beginning. Readers are given no hints in either text or illustrations to indicate that the Birthday Queen is anything but a manic monarch, though at the end it is revealed that she is actually the birthday child's mother. Only the final page hints that the magic was only in the child's head, or perhaps the mother's. The bright oil paintings, while lively and colorful, border on garish with grinning characters who have green and purple shadows around their eyes. This brightly illustrated, slight salute to party planning ends up missing the mark.—Martha Link Yesowitch, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, NC
The Birthday Queen does everything possible to make sure birthday celebrations are perfect. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it. Invitations need to be written and sent. Clowns must be carefully screened. And of course, every single birthday game must be tried and approved. But when it comes to readers' birthdays? The Birthday Queen steps it up a notch. She whips up a celebration at a moment's notice, complete with cake to exact specifications, beautifully wrapped presents and balloons that fly into place as soon as the guests arrive. Just who is the Birthday Queen? If "you" look closely--the narration is in the second person--beneath the jeweled crown and past the bright rainbow dress, readers just may recognize someone special in their own family (so long as their mothers are white and present). In a wild frenzy reminiscent of a Candy Land board explosion, colors burst forth from every page. The Birthday Queen herself is not pretty in pink; she is a brightly rouged, belly-laughing, apple-cheeked blonde. Kids will get swept up in the birthday excitement, while adult readers will recognize the small moments of manic preparation--which always "magically" turn out in the end. It's just too bad, given the seemingly inclusive direct address, that this queen-cum-mom is ethnically specific, leaving kids whose moms are not white out in the cold. A sly, though problematic, nod of appreciation to mothers, hidden behind streamers, confetti and a mouthful of cake. (Picture book. 3-6)
