Loony Little: An Environmental Tale

by Dianna Hutts Aston, Kelly Murphy (Illustrator)

"Aston overlays the Chicken Little tale with an environmental theme. . . . Murphy paints a wilderness worth preserving." — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

When a drop of water falls — plop! — on Loony Little’s head, she and her friends decide that they must bring this unfortunate news to the fearsome queen. Maybe she can explain how this strange turn of events will affect them. But when sly Foxy Loxy volunteers to escort all the animals to the queen’s lair, Loony suspects that the fate of the Arctic and its marvelous creatures is not what the fox — or the queen — really cares about. Now, who can they find who does care?
Back matter includes an author’s note and information about the animals.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Science, Childrens

40 pages, Paperback

First published October 13, 2003

About the author

Dianna Hutts Aston was born in Houston, Texas, attended the University of Houston, and worked as a journalist for several years. LOONY LITTLE is her first picture book with Candlewick Press. She says, "It was one of the hottest summer days on record. My mind, of its own accord, kept wandering northward, to a wilderness of snow and ice, the Arctic. While listening to the news one evening, I heard Peter Jennings say, ‘The polar icecap is melting - or is it?’ In my mind, I heard, ‘The sky is falling!’ The whole concept for LOONY LITTLE literally fell from the sky and into my mind." Dianna Hutts Aston lives in central Texas with her husband and two children.

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun spin on Chicken Little, this time set in the arctic. While kids will enjoy this story with it's goofy character names (love the clever naming scheme), it will most certainly be a sad read for us adults. The underlying theme being climate change and all that stands to be lost due to one political party's inability to put their own interests aside and believe the science of a very real crisis we all face.

*steps off my soapbox*

So on to the book. The illustrations are very good and I love the colors. The representation of many animals makes it a fun way to learn about this particular habitat. I can see kids laughing and enjoying the funny story that continues to escalate with each page turn.

I love Charlesbridge books so this will definitely be a good one to add to the collection.

Thank you to Edelweiss, Charlesbridge Publishing and Dianna Hutts Aston for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Review Date: 9/19/19
Publication Date: 01/14/20

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loony Little: the ice cap is melting! By Dianna Hutts Aston, illustrated by Kelly Murphy. PICTURE BOOK. Charlesbridge, 2020 $17. 9781623541170

BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K, EL (K-3) - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

When a drop of water hits Loony Little’s head, she thinks the ice caps are melting and sets off to tell the Polar Bear Queen. Along the way she picks up other arctic animals. Things go awry when they meet up with Foxy Loxy, who secretly wants to eat them. The Polar Bear Queen doesn’t seem to be any more sympathetic.

I thought that this book was going to be a great environmental take on the original Chicken Little tale. And it began out entertaining with the animals joining up. Even the scare with Foxy Loxy was a nice addition. However, when they arrived at the Polar Bear Queen, her only interest is in eating Foxy Loxy and then sitting back and digesting. While that may be startling and scary, it doesn’t add anything to the fact that the polar ice caps actually are melting and that the polar bear would (should?) care. The ending is just too disappointing for me to give this a sterling recommendation. The addition of “how you can save the ice caps” back matter doesn’t make up for the stumble.

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...

[Kelsey · Rating 1 out of 5]

The message felt forced—it certainly would get lost for children—and the story rambled and meandered too much which contributed to the lost message. The illustrations were okay, but didn’t save this book. My first major complaint is that the story mimics Chicken Little, who ends up being wrong about the fact that the sky is falling (he’s famous for being wrong and for being too easily scared about it). So if it’s based on that tale, isn’t it implicitly also suggesting that the icecaps melting might be another falsehood? This seems contrary to the book’s message about climate change and how we should help prevent it (as I believe is discussed at the end of the book—I didn’t read through this part of the book because I had lost interest by that point).

Also, the story’s characters raise a lot of questions, and these remain unanswered by the end of the book. They are hoping the polar bear will help them and answer their questions about why the ice caps are melting, what they should do about it, and what this means for their homes, but instead the polar bear does nothing. I get that the polar bear is meant to represent the part of the human population that doesn’t care about climate change, but that seems awfully dramatic and unhelpful for a children’s story book. I think the point is that you’re supposed to feel sad for the characters and unsatisfied, and that that is supposed to motivate the reader to seek answers and create their own change, but young children need explicit answers, directions, and help—especially for a goal as large as helping the environment, which adults haven’t even been able to figure out yet. If you aren’t direct with children about how to do tasks and big projects, then they will likely either forget and move on or feel a sense of incompetence and impossibility and give up.

Finally, why was it necessary to have the seal’s brother and the fox get eaten by the polar bear? That just seems unnecessary plot wise and also just awfully cruel and violent in the way it’s presented in the story. It just seems like a horrible addition to the whole misguided storyline.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chicken Little gets the arctic treatment in this picture book from author Dianna Hutts Aston and illustrator Kelly Murphy, as the eponymous Loony Little, terrified at the news that the polar icecap is melting, sets out to tell the Polar Bear Queen. Along the way she meets Dovekie Lovekie, Puffin Muffin and Harey Clarey, each of whom join her quest. When Sealy Sally warns them this ursine queen might eat them all, they debate what to do next, and then meet up with Foxy Loxy, who offers to be their escort. Only Loony Little suspects all is not well with this vulpine guide, and manages to turn the table on him. The book concludes with an author's note about the polar icecaps, and some information about each species of animal depicted in the story...

Originally published in 2003 as Loony Little, and then in paperback in 2007 as Loony Little: An Environmental Tale, this ecological fractured fairy-tale was recently republished, in 2020, as Loony Little: The Ice Cap Is Melting! It offers a climate-change inspired retelling of the traditional folktale concerning Chicken Little—more often known as Henny Penny in the UK, this tale is sometimes also known as Chicken Licken—in which a little fowl thinks the sky is falling because an acorn falls on his head. Here Loony Little believes that something equally disastrous is happening, only in her case, it is the truth. Aston's retelling retains the tradition of rhyming names, but reverses the familiar ending in which the animal companions are eaten by the fox, instead having that vulpine trickster eaten himself, by the polar bear. Although I would not say it was destined to become a favorite, I did find this one interesting, both as an example of a transplanted/fractured fairy-tale, and as its author's debut. As someone who really loves some of Aston's later picture books, it was good to see where she got her start. Recommended to picture book readers looking for fractured fairy-tales, particularly those with an Arctic setting.

[Gladimore · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this is an educational story about the effect climate change is having on the arctic, it is also a silly story about a group of animals charging into action for their home! But when a trickster and a danger come into play, what will they do? My favorite type of story that can be a normal tale of adventure and trickery, but can be educational at the same time. Talk about learning while having fun!!!
#Edelweiss

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Artic take on Chicken Little, but instead of the sky falling it's about the polar ice cap melting. They're going to tell the Polar Bear Queen. Foxy Loxy tries to detour them into his lair, but he ends up getting eaten by the Polar Bear Queen.

The book ends asking who will care, if the Polar Bear Queen doesn't.

[Annie MacPherson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel like I missed something here...? Not great execution or illustrations.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This really didn't have anything to do with the environment. I think it was a bit misleading. The backmatter was decent but the story was lacking.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve never been very fond of Chicken Little so this version of Chicken Little set in the Arctic didn’t do much for me

[D'Anne Mosby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Folktale and climate change! Clever.

[Mother Goose Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This folk tale is an arctic version of Henny Penny.

[Hend Alalwani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Age range: 4-8
Personal Reaction:
-I enjoyed reading this book because the illustrations are great, and it enhances the reader with the story. Also, the words are perfect to learn.

Purpose:
-Read aloud to four years children for different purposes:
-The teamwork in solving the problems, and the courage of the Loony Little to tell others about the problem and try to solve it. Also When, Looney little and the friends found out the Foxy Loxy is trying to hurt them they fought him together. The drawings of the story are perfect, and it enhances the child imagination.
Curriculum:
-Read aloud, discuses the differences between fantasy and the reality, it has a lot of dialogue between the characters which will give the children a chance to see the problems from different perspectives.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

One sunny day in the Arctic a drop of water falls onto Loony Little’s head. She panics and begins hurrying to tell Polar Bear Queen that the ice cap is melting! Along the way she is joined by Dovekey Lovekey, Puffin Muffin, and Hairy Clary. When Sea Sally tells them that Polar Bear Queen is very dangerous, before they can turn back they meet Foxy Loxie who takes advantage of the situation.
At the end of this story there is Author’s Note in which she includes very interesting information about climate change. That is followed by some facts about each of the six birds and animals in the story. Beautifully illustrated with a great ending.

[Shelby Deghand · Rating 3 out of 5]

This environmental book was more entertaining because there was a story, but there wasn't great factual information. I really liked how the duck talked to all the other animals. Kids can really relate to animals and this book would catch their eye for sure.

[z.diddy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this book at all

[Kalee Maneth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great Informational book about EarthDay that has been turned into a storybook, but still can teach a young child so much. I would love to read this book to my students around Earth Day.

[Andréa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Squishy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the teeny bird and their funny names.