A picture book that tries and fails to offer a “unique” spin on the tried-and-true odd-couple–friendship formula.
Hugo the Hippo takes pride in being “unique,” which causes tension when his friend Bella (a bird) tries to be just like him.
For reasons that remain unclear throughout the story, Bella persists in her adoration and emulation of Hugo, whose dialogue makes him sound both full of himself and also quite uncaring about her feelings. Happily, his rebuffs don’t seem to affect her, and she doggedly keeps up with his various moves in a complicated water ballet. “Bella, will you stop being a copycat!” he demands. “I am not a copycat,” she responds, expanding rather flatly, “I am a bird.” Then, instead of allowing the two to resolve their conflict alone, Bonwill introduces another hippo-and-bird pair, who show up poolside and say, “You two are amazing synchronized swimmers!” This compliment eases Hugo’s mind, and they celebrate with ice cream. This time Bella takes the lead, with Hugo ordering “exactly the same” flavor she does, though she changes her mind so that they enjoy different scoops. Throughout, cartoonish digital art fails to live up to the promise of endearing line art on the endpapers, and it never adds much to this rather pedestrian tale.
A picture book that tries and fails to offer a “unique” spin on the tried-and-true odd-couple–friendship formula. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 7, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4424-8053-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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