Wonder what these two will “invent” next?
The Stone Age father and son of Cave Dada (2020) are back, and this time Dada must produce an egg for his child’s breakfast. Or else.
Unfortunately, once the heavy rectangular stone door is pulled aside (with great difficulty) by Dada, the ancient fridge shelves reveal no egg. And soon enough, a clumsy mammoth puts paid to the fridge door, the biggest piece coming to rest across the stones surrounding the fire (discovered in the previous book). Dada attempts to entice the tot to eat something else: cheese? “No! Has holes!” Onion? “Too stink!” Spinach? “It touch onion!” With each pronouncement, Baba tosses the foods away from his stone highchair, and they land atop the demolished door. Dada points to each item on the fridge shelves, to no avail. Although “Dad no want hunt gather. Dada day off…Dada want relax,” his tot’s temper tantrum forces him out to raid the nest of what appears to be a ginormous chicken. Just when breakfast is in his grasp…oops! The omelet has been invented. Reese’s illustrations are just as hilarious as in the duo’s first outing, combining single- and double-page spreads with comic panels to trace the emotional roller coaster that parenting sometimes is, though one might wish that the father were portrayed in a less stereotypical light next time. Facial expressions are masterful; both have light skin and wear furs, the tyke as a diaper.
Wonder what these two will “invent” next? (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 27, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4521-7995-7
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021
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
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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