Norman’s rocking rump and hula dance are quite the highlights—it’s a language everyone can understand.
In this picture-book debut, novelist Adderson (Jasper John Dooley: Not in Love, 2014, etc.) provides an affectionate look into the surprises of bringing home a new pet.
It’s a familiar scene for many families: A young boy and his parents adopt a dog from the animal shelter. Overwhelmed by the choices, the boy wishes he could take home every forlorn-looking pup. He decides that he’ll choose a stray, Norman, that has been there the longest. The pup has a stump of a tail, and his wag is “a hula dance of happiness.” At home, the boy encourages Norman to do the usual canine things, like sit or speak. Norman, however, doesn’t understand, and the boy figures that Norman just isn’t very smart. But intelligence is deceiving. Through an encounter with another pet owner, the boy discovers that Norman understands Chinese (Mandarin), not English. (“Norman! Why didn’t you say so?” scolds the boy.) Pet lovers will appreciate this family’s lighthearted journey toward making this relationship succeed. As an added bonus, readers can learn or brush up on their Mandarin, giving an original twist to the story. Leng’s illustrations in ink on paper add heart with warm pastel hues. The simple and clean facial expressions convey emotions with the right touch, from puzzlement to complete joy.
Norman’s rocking rump and hula dance are quite the highlights—it’s a language everyone can understand. (glossary) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 13, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-55498-322-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: March 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2014
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
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with...
Reynolds and Brown have crafted a Halloween tale that balances a really spooky premise with the hilarity that accompanies any mention of underwear.
Jasper Rabbit needs new underwear. Plain White satisfies him until he spies them: “Creepy underwear! So creepy! So comfy! They were glorious.” The underwear of his dreams is a pair of radioactive-green briefs with a Frankenstein face on the front, the green color standing out all the more due to Brown’s choice to do the entire book in grayscale save for the underwear’s glowing green…and glow they do, as Jasper soon discovers. Despite his “I’m a big rabbit” assertion, that glow creeps him out, so he stuffs them in the hamper and dons Plain White. In the morning, though, he’s wearing green! He goes to increasing lengths to get rid of the glowing menace, but they don’t stay gone. It’s only when Jasper finally admits to himself that maybe he’s not such a big rabbit after all that he thinks of a clever solution to his fear of the dark. Brown’s illustrations keep the backgrounds and details simple so readers focus on Jasper’s every emotion, writ large on his expressive face. And careful observers will note that the underwear’s expression also changes, adding a bit more creep to the tale.
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with Dr. Seuss’ tale of animate, empty pants. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0298-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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