Charming, quirky, and sweet—this one contains the magical ingredients for an absorbing read.
The apprentice-magician puppies confront an exciting new challenge.
Now that Hocus and Pocus have adjusted to their forever home, their ruby-haired, brown-skinned witch caregiver, Jinx, decides to help them get to know their new neighborhood. They plan a “potion drop”—a sort of reverse trick-or-treating activity. They go door to door giving out helpful mixtures and in return receive pickles, pies, socks, and firewood; their fellow witches even give them some spells. Extroverted Hocus is having a great time, but shy Pocus feels overwhelmed. When they learn that the wizard next door is having trouble with his new pet—a dragon named Bye-Bye who keeps setting things on fire—Pocus is naturally terrified, so the pups try to make “a not-scary spell,” with an incantation involving some decidedly un-scary words, like zoomies and lap naps. Pocus feels braver, but when the pups attempt to visit Bye-Bye, they find the dragon cowering in a cave. Bye-Bye’s also anxious—and unfortunately doesn’t speak dog. Hijinks, including shape-shifting, ensue as Hocus tries out another potion in an attempt to communicate with Bye-Bye. Just as engaging as its predecessor, this tale artfully blends magic and whimsy. Pocus’ trajectory from fearful to more confident—though still a bit uncertain—is both relatable and realistic. Clear, bright illustrations complement the text well; Hocus’ gift for prediction should prophecy success for the series.
Charming, quirky, and sweet—this one contains the magical ingredients for an absorbing read. (Chapter book. 5-8)Pub Date: March 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781536224931
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts.
Can knightly deeds bring together a feathered odd couple who are on opposite daily schedules?
Having won over a dragon (and millions of fans) in the Caldecott Honor–winning Knight Owl (2022), the fierce yet impossibly cute nocturnal, armor-clad owlet faces a new challenge—sleep deprivation—in the wake of taking on Early Bird, a trainee who rises with the sun and chatters interminably: “I made pancakes! Do you like pancakes? I love pancakes! Where’s the syrup?” It’s enough to test the patience of even the knightliest of owls, and eventually Knight Owl explodes in anger. But although Early Bird is even smaller than her mentor, she turns out to be just as determined to achieve knighthood. After he tells her to leave, she acquits herself so nobly in a climactic encounter with a pack of wolves that she earns a place at the castle. Denise proves a dab hand at depicting genuinely slinky, scary wolves as well as slipping cheerfully anachronistic newspapers and other sight gags into his realistically wrought medieval settings to underscore the tale’s tongue-in-cheek tone. Better yet, a final view of the doughty duo sitting down together to a lavish pancake breakfast/dinner at dusk ends the episode in a sweet rush of syrup and bonhomie.
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9780316564526
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
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