Play—don’t read—this important environmental message.
An oil spill jeopardizes sea life in this environmental songbook.
If the fate of the planet is in children’s hands, reading them books like this one might be a wise idea. New York-based songwriter Lavin and award-winning illustrator Franco Feeney have joined creative forces with the goal of promoting clean energy. Inspired by the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, the book begins with a cracked pipeline and ends with wildlife cleanup efforts—a chronicling best paired with folksy music, as it turns out. Pop in the book’s accompanying CD, and let The Guys & Dolphins All-Starfish Band take it away. Reminiscent of catchy classroom tunes like “The Green Grass Grows All Around,” Lavin’s song relies on repetitive rhythms and layering (“There’s a hole in the bottom of the sea / There’s a pipe in the hole in the bottom of the sea / There’s a crack in the pipe in the hole in the bottom of the sea”). It’s a tried formula but one that works well, with the exception of one or two crowded stanzas: “There’s water heated by the generator by the windmill up on the hill” was clearly intended for speedy-tongued singers and not parents who will stumble and bumble their way through this book if they decide to forego the music. Franco Feeney’s thoughtfully detailed illustrations of oil-slicked sea critters will tug at young readers’ heartstrings, and an educational appendix at the end offers in-depth discussion of renewable energy forms, a DIY craft project, sheet music and a checklist of how to save energy at home. The only thing missing, in fact, is an environmental cleanup team and a life-sized windmill. Ambitious? No doubt. Especially considering that a portion of the book’s net proceeds benefits the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association (NWRA). Kudos to Lavin and Franco Feeney for making this songbook an entertaining—and earth-friendly—investment.
Play—don’t read—this important environmental message. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0972648783
Page Count: -
Publisher: Puddle Jump Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 30, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
