A case of egg-napping and mistaken identity finds a chicken being raised in the household of an eagle. Dylan is still an egg when his mother, Ethel, decides to stretch her cramped legs, only to have her cherished egg snatched by a balding crow who thinks an egg is just what’s needed to grow some new feathers. Ethel creates such a ruckus, the crow drops the egg into a nest high in a tree, said nest harboring two much larger eggs. Ethel, who can’t fly worth a hoot, clucks and cries down below as an eagle returns to that nest. Momma eagle, “whose name is too hard to pronounce,” is suspicious of the little egg, but with a mother’s protectiveness, she keeps it warm until it hatches. It’s a sorry creature that emerges, in the eagle’s eye, and Dylan looks even sorrier when the other two eggs hatch. He establishes communication with Ethel below, but is confounded as to who his real mother is. When he hasn’t got a taste for the grub the mother eagle supplies, nor can he fly any better than any other chicken, he has his own suspicions. These are finally laid to rest when a fox nearly eats Ethel and his childlike protectiveness swings into action, summoning in Dylan the boldness, if not the grace, of an eagle. Though not very strong in the identity department, this is most pleasurable in the confusion Dylan generates in the eagle family: the mother’s befuddlement and the siblings’ desire to eat him (he “smells just like chicken”). Harrison’s (Volcanoes, p. 1131, etc.) telling has that droll wit that bespeaks the silliness of the situation. Brooks’s (Sister for Sale, not reviewed, etc.) art tends to be sugary when it comes to Dylan, with his pop eyes and furry feathers, but it also has the spark of narrative animation, making it easy for younger readers to follow. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 1-56397-982-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2002
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
A sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends.
Is it a stormy-night scare or a bedtime book? Both!
Little Blue Truck and his good friend Toad are heading home when a storm lets loose. Before long, their familiar, now very nervous barnyard friends (Goat, Hen, Goose, Cow, Duck, and Pig) squeeze into the garage. Blue explains that “clouds bump and tumble in the sky, / but here inside we’re warm and dry, / and all the thirsty plants below / will get a drink to help them grow!” The friends begin to relax. “Duck said, loud as he could quack it, / ‘THUNDER’S JUST A NOISY RACKET!’ ” In the quiet after the storm, the barnyard friends are sleepy, but the garage is not their home. “ ‘Beep!’ said Blue. ‘Just hop inside. / All aboard for the bedtime ride!’ ” Young readers will settle down for their own bedtimes as Blue and Toad drop each friend at home and bid them a good night before returning to the garage and their own beds. “Blue gave one small sleepy ‘Beep.’ / Then Little Blue Truck fell fast asleep.” Joseph’s rich nighttime-blue illustrations (done “in the style of [series co-creator] Jill McElmurry”) highlight the power of the storm and capture the still serenity that follows. Little Blue Truck has been chugging along since 2008, but there seems to be plenty of gas left in the tank.
A sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-328-85213-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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