Find your own man’s best friend and curl up for some love, laughs, and insight.
An illustrated phrase book for dog lovers of all ages.
For dog lovers not fluent in canine languages or able to read minds, this gift book pairs color photos of dogs of many breeds, shapes, sizes, and ages with captions that explain each dog’s thoughts. Every aspect of a dog’s life is covered: eating (and stealing) food, playing with human and animal friends, vet visits, grooming, and even getting into trouble. Some messages are slightly ominous but delivered in good fun. In one photo, just one eye of a dog peers through fence slats. The caption? “Here, kitty kitty.” Other photos capture more positive dog-cat relationships, and a small, wide-eyed terrier even worries about the biggest cat it has ever seen. Some translations show dogs at their goofiest. The photo of a gangly pup captured awkwardly in midair with front paws flailing for a ball is captioned “I will catch this wingless bee if it is the last thing I do!” Other photo-text pairs share words of wisdom. A large brindle dog with a woebegone expression explains, “No, I don’t think it would be fun for your two-year-old to ride me like a horse, actually.” A distressed shepherd with ears pinned down and back asks, “I beg of you, please, please put those fireworks back in the garage cabinet.” Some of the best captions clearly demonstrate a dog’s superior intellect. “I finally trained her to give me a treat if I shake her hand.” Companion title The Secret Thoughts of Cats publishes simultaneously. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Find your own man’s best friend and curl up for some love, laughs, and insight. (Picture book. 5-adult)Pub Date: Oct. 26, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-951412-22-7
Page Count: 120
Publisher: The Collective Book Studio
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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
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