A wry exploration of the symptoms of falling in love
An elephant in love, it turns out, behaves an awful lot like a besotted human being.
“When an elephant falls in love, he writes letters that he’ll never send. / And he stares at the clouds for hours and hours.” As Cali’s simple, declarative text unfolds, symptom by symptom, Lotti’s equally witty multimedia illustrations depict a large, gray pachyderm acting them out. He is shaped like an upright brick balanced on four absurdly stumpy legs, trunk and tail depending from either end about midway up; he is mottled gray, with just a few lines to describe ears, toenails, and a wrinkle or two and ink-dot eyes. His bulk is played up in each illustration, as when he hides behind a tree that is far too slender to conceal him or tries out a “stylish” outfit with a tiny top hat perched on his forehead. He, an omnipresent yellow bird, and the few items necessary to set the scene appear on, usually, spacious white backgrounds, and this clean focus further heightens the foolishness. There is no doubt kids will be giggling, even though the narrative describes a romantic love that’s quite foreign to their own emotional development. Moreover, kids whose adult caregivers or older siblings are themselves in the throes of new love may recognize more than a few of these behaviors.
A wry exploration of the symptoms of falling in love . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Dec. 20, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4521-4727-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
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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
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