Have You Seen My New Blue Socks? - Hardcover

Bunting, Eve

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0547752679 ISBN 13: 9780547752679

Publisher: Clarion Books, 2013

Synopsis

“I have lost my new blue socks. Did I put them in my box?” Simple rhymes—including socks, box, fox, and ox!—spin the tale of a small duck who waddles through the countryside, forlornly searching for his blue socks. “I’m trying not to be depressed. / Without my socks I feel undressed.” Finally, a sharp-eyed peacock sees a bit of blue peeking out of duck’s lace-up shoes and the mini-mystery is solved! Soft-hued, adorable pen-and-ink and watercolor paintings adorn this winsome story that shares the familiar experience of not really losing something after all.

About this title

About the Author

Eve Bunting has written over two hundred books for children, including the Caldecott Medal-winning Smoky Night, illustrated by David Diaz, The Wall, Fly Away Home, and Train to Somewhere. She lives in Southern California.

Sergio Ruzzier has illustrated a number of picture books, some of which he also wrote. Italian by birth, he lives in Brooklyn. Visit him at http://www.ruzzier.com/.

Review

Bunting and Ruzzier create a lightly surreal and emotionally benevolent landscape, this time introducing a hero who's considerably more independent than the baby elephant from the earlier book. The book's gentle takeaway [is] reinforced by Ruzzier's signature offbeat aesthetic [...] and Bunting's solid, conversational rhymes.  - Publishers Weekly Starred Review

It's hard to resist, especially when the cartoon illustrations are so captivating in their absurdity. Duck's expression is all in the eyebrows--such angst over a pair of socks has never been conveyed so well. Blues, teals, and greens are the background for the child-friendly, offbeat details Ruzzier has planted in the illustrations, including underwear, dog bones, and a painting ox. An accessible vocabulary and easy-to-sound-out words make this a perfect book for the newest reader, especially one with a grand sense of humor.  - The Horn Book

"Sergio Ruzzier's illustrations always manage to be soft and fluffy and kind toward children -- without slipping into saccharine gauziness. [...] Ruzzier's spare pen-and-ink pictures charmingly enliven animal stories in just the way preschoolers like." - Pamela Paul, The New York Times

Edition details

• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0547752679
• ISBN 13: 9780547752679
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Ruzzier Sergio