Giving fans even more reason to “Like Ike”—the dog, that is—Teague pits his irrepressible, letter-writing canine against “Law and Order” candidate Hugo Bugwort in a race for Mayor of Snort City. Expressing righteous indignation at Bugwort’s resolute anti-dog stance, Ike (figuratively) throws his hat into the ring, and proceeds to report back to his laid-up owner Mrs. LaRue on his “dignified,” issue-based campaign. The pictures tell a somewhat different story than the all-letters-and-news-items text, showing Ike and a gang of doggy buddies creating chaos at Bugwort’s public appearances, defacing his posters (“Vote Sniff Bugwort For A Strong Snort City Odor”), plastering the neighborhood with “LaRue” stickers and staging raids on hot dog carts and ice-cream trucks. In the end a bit of heroic behavior from Ike earns an about-face from Bugwort and an offer to be Assistant Mayor. But, as a final picture hints, the mischievous pooch’s political career may just be getting under way. Though less an election-year primer than a tale for dog lovers of every breed, this merits a spot alongside Doreen Cronin’s wickedly satiric Duck For President, illustrated by Betsy Lewin (2004) as a waggish take on the theme. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-439-78315-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Blue Sky/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
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