This might be more of a lesson to adults to examine word choices than a tool for children about anger management.
A picture book paints Tiger’s temper literally, as a frowning little red ball of flame.
Little Tiger’s temper has spiky hair, black eyes, and a frowny mouth and is shaped like a little ball of fire. Looking rather like a plush toy, it does not seem mean-spirited or intimidating. Yet this visual depiction of a feeling is never far from Tiger, mimicking his yelling and stomping. When Mama says “You had better hold your temper, Tiger,” he considers his choices. What does it mean to hold your temper? Where should he hold it? The book hinges on wordplay that seems more sophisticated than its target audience. When Tiger grabs hold of the ball of temper, both seem confused, a feeling little listeners will probably share. Rashin’s illustrations, while vibrant and engaging, have adult connotations that may raise eyebrows. A bellicose Tiger wields a bat in anger at his mother. In a strategy obviously meant to be humorous, the temper is shoved into Tiger’s underpants. The realistic acknowledgment of children’s anger is appreciated but possibly misplaced, as the one-liner play on words of “holding your temper” never explains its metaphor. The book closes with this unsatisfying sentiment after Tiger roars his anger into his baseball cap: “Don’t worry. I’ll never lose my temper again. I know exactly where it is.”
This might be more of a lesson to adults to examine word choices than a tool for children about anger management. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4274-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2017
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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
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BOOK REVIEW
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