Spring Stinks (Little Bruce)

by Ryan T Higgins (Author) Ryan T Higgins (Illustrator)

Reading Level: K − 1st Grade
Series: Little Bruce

Ruth the bunny is excited to share the smells of spring with Bruce, but Bruce thinks spring stinks!

Fans of the best-selling Mother Bruce series will cheer for this festive book blooming with visual humor just right for our littlest readers.

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Kirkus

Ah, spring. It brings out the best in bears—unless the bear’s name is Bruce!

In this exploration of the character’s backstory, the book opens with Bruce as chirpy and full of bonhomie as a pterodactyl on a bad day. Ruth the bunny, however, is beside herself as she revels in the glories of the season. Pilfering Bruce’s basket, she insists on rubbing Bruce’s unappreciative nose in a cornucopia of scents (er—stinks). Grass? Daisies? Wet moose? “ ‘Grrrr!’ grumbles Bruce.” One after another, the fresh and abundant offerings of nature are met with Bruce’s ringing approval—well, more like a grudging tolerance—actually, a resounding, “Rrrr!” Wait a minute! Is that honey? Bruce likes honey, doesn’t he? But then a bee makes a “beeeeeeeline” straight for Bruce’s “beeeeeeehind.” He careens tail over teakettle, much to Ruth’s delight, down a grassy hill until he lands, honey-smeared, on his banged-up head right in the path of a—skunk! Spring stinks. Higgins’ sparse text is humorously juxtaposed with his signature, detail-packed, engaging illustrations. The mouse-sized treehouse and the despondent, dripping moose are especially delightful. Bruce’s unibrow is practically a protagonist in and of itself. Ruth’s exuberance plays off Bruce’s disgruntledness like a sweet pear off gorgonzola. (This book was reviewed digitally with 7-by-14-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

The energy snapping within each action-packed frame adds to the rollicking fun Bruce is definitely not having. (Picture book. 3-7)

Copyright Kirkus Reviews 2020, LLC Used with permission

Review quotes

PRAISE FOR PEEK-A-BRUCE

"In the same league as any of the great children's classics: rich in detail, deft, smooth, elegant, and expressive. Part Are You My Mother? part The Odd Couple, all delightful."—Kirkus Reviews
Ryan T Higgins
Ryan T. Higgins (ryanthiggins.com) is the author and illustrator of the New York Times best-selling Mother Bruce, which received the E. B. White Read-Aloud Award and the Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Honor; Hotel Bruce; BE QUIET!; and Bruce's Big Move. He lives in Maine with his wife and kids and lots of pets.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781368060912
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Disney-Hyperion
Publication date
January 05, 2021
Series
Little Bruce
BISAC categories
JUV002030 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Bears
JUV002210 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Rabbits
JUV017020 - Juvenile Fiction | Holidays & Celebrations | Easter & Lent
Library of Congress categories
Humorous stories
Bears
Rabbits
Spring
Odors

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