Flawed internal logic mars this slight tale.
Following One Two That’s My Shoe (2012), Murray again riffs on a traditional nursery rhyme, keeping its cadences while focusing on a day in the life of Zack and his faithful dog, Rufus.
Rufus follows Zack to school, where he romps with a small group of ethnically diverse classmates as they march in a band, play dress-up, bicycle, scooter and skateboard (sans helmets), and paint at easels. There’s nary an adult in sight, and most of the analog clocks that anchor the day’s events (from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.) have no numbers, leaving the time-telling to grown-up readers. Murray’s digital art employs a palette ranging from flat, retro pastels to bright primary colors. The children sport stylized hair and clothing, with black dots for eyes. The antics of shaggy, yellow Rufus earn him splotches of blue, green and pink, as well as some glued-on fallen leaves. Oddly, large swaths of time elapse between some adjacent spreads. Zack and Rufus arrive home at 5 p.m.—three hours after leaving the classroom for the leaf pile. Since the day’s passing hours are one of the story’s themes, such unexplained time lapses are unfortunate.
Flawed internal logic mars this slight tale. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 10, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6826-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
This is a tremendously moving story, but some people will be moved only on the second reading, after they’ve Googled “How to...
A hug shouldn’t require an instruction manual—but some do.
A porcupine can frighten even the largest animal. In this picture book, a bear and a deer, along with a small rabbit, each run away when they hear eight simple words and their name: “I need a hug. Will you cuddle me,…?” As they flee, each utters a definitive refusal that rhymes with their name. The repetitive structure gives Blabey plenty of opportunities for humor, because every animal responds to the question with an outlandish, pop-eyed expression of panic. But the understated moments are even funnier. Each animal takes a moment to think over the request, and the drawings are nuanced enough that readers can see the creatures react with slowly building anxiety or, sometimes, a glassy stare. These silent reaction shots not only show exquisite comic timing, but they make the rhymes in the text feel pleasingly subtle by delaying the final line in each stanza. The story is a sort of fable about tolerance. It turns out that a porcupine can give a perfectly adequate hug when its quills are flat and relaxed, but no one stays around long enough to find out except for an animal that has its own experiences with intolerance: a snake. It’s an apt, touching moral, but the climax may confuse some readers as they try to figure out the precise mechanics of the embrace.
This is a tremendously moving story, but some people will be moved only on the second reading, after they’ve Googled “How to pet a porcupine.” (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Jan. 29, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-29710-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A funny tale about stress and an ever upping ante, with a comforting end.
Something is preventing Owl from falling asleep.
Owl leans back against his white pillow and headboard. “Squeek!” says something underneath the bed. Owl’s never heard that sound before, so he fastens his pink bathrobe and answers the front door. Nobody. It must be the wind; back to bed. Bidding himself goodnight, he climbs into bed—and hears the noise again. Time after time, he pops out of bed seeking the squeaker. Is it in the cupboard? He empties the shelves. Under the floor? He pulls up his floorboards. As Owl’s actions ratchet up—he destroys the roof and smashes the walls, all in search of the squeak—so does his anxiety. Not until he hunkers down in bed under the night sky (his bed is now outdoors, because the house’s roof and walls are gone), frantically clutching his pillow, does he see what readers have seen all along: a small, gray mouse. In simple illustrations with black outlines, textured coloring, and foreshortened perspective, Pizzoli plays mischievously with mouse placement. Sometimes the mouse is behind Owl or just out of his sightline; other times, the mouse is on a solid, orange-colored page across the spread from Owl, which removes him from Owl’s scene in a rather postmodern manner. Is the mouse toying with Owl? Who knows?
A funny tale about stress and an ever upping ante, with a comforting end. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4847-1275-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
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