Silliness resolves into true affection in this airy encore.
Dill, an “odd duck,” and Bizzy, a “strange bird,” return following their eponymous debut to find their friendship tested as they spend a day doing everything the opposite way.
Bizzy, awake early for a change, decides that it is Opposite Day and, to Dill’s dismay and annoyance, declares that they will do their usual daily routine in the reverse. So instead of beginning the day with breakfast, they will start with dinner. Rather than a slow morning waddle, they will go on a fast morning run. Flying up to the sky will be replaced with flying down to the ground. Poor Dill just wants a quiet day, but Bizzy’s convinced he really would enjoy a loud dance party. Dill’s protestations escalate (“NO! NO! STOP!”) while Bizzy continues to turn around every statement and activity (“YES! YES! GO!”). By day’s end both feathered friends realize the absurdity when Bizzy admits that “the opposite of going to sleep is staying up all night! Opposite Day will go on forever!” Opposite Day then would also mean they must be worst enemies instead of best friends. Unimaginable! The two resolve to always be best friends every day. This author/illustrator team of sisters harmoniously combines a dialogue-driven narrative with animated black-outlined, digitally colored cartoon drawings.
Silliness resolves into true affection in this airy encore. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-230453-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
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