Bayonne, N.J.’s very own miscreant polar bears are in danger of violating their parole—again. While amiably cheating one another at cards one evening, Irving and Muktuk are paid a visit by their pal Larry. The three polar bears raise their usual ruckus, but the zoo is a forgiving place when it comes to polar bears who wish to play indoor volleyball. The trouble starts when Irving and Muktuk decide to do some visiting of their own—an idea alien to them before Larry’s sojourn, probably because it doesn’t typically involve crimes and misdemeanors. In their case it does; leaving the zoo’s precincts is strictly forbidden them. Oblivious to the fact that one usually knows the people one is visiting, they drop in on the Beachball residence for a little merriment. (For humans, they are cool customers when two polar bears come calling.) Fun is fun, but the Beachballs quietly call the cops. The Pinkwaters bring a cockamamie sense of humor, deadpan text and lovely pools of ribbon-candy color to the bears’ shenanigans, and there is little danger, considering what doofuses Irving and Muktuk are, that they will inspire any bad-bear behavior in readers. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 9, 2007
ISBN: 0-618-43126-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2007
Turkey’s in the “kind of trouble where it’s almost Thanksgiving...and you’re the main course.” Accordingly, Turkey tries on disguise after disguise, from horse to cow to pig to sheep, at each iteration being told that he looks nothing like the animal he’s trying to mimic (which is quite true, as Harper’s quirky watercolors make crystal clear). He desperately squeezes a red rubber glove onto his head to pass as a rooster, only to overhear the farmer suggest a poultry plan B when he’s unable to turn up the turkey. Turkey’s horrified expression as he stands among the peppers and tomatoes—in November? Chalk it up to artistic license—is priceless, but his surroundings give him an idea. Good fun, but it may lead to a vegetarian table or two. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-7614-5529-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
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
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