A good addition to the loss-of-a-pet bookshelf.
Rosie’s world turns gray when her dog passes away, but friendship and color bloom again when she helps reunite another child with a lost cat.
Crayon the dog fills Rosie’s world with delight. Everything seems brighter, bolder, deeper with her best pal. Together the little dog and brown-complexioned girl (both have tightly curled hair, the dog’s white and the girl’s black) traverse the seasons and their accompanying hues—jumping in leaves, sledding, and camping under a starry sky—until Crayon dies. Spreads become overcast, mirroring Rosie’s emotions, as she closes up her heart. A lost-cat search wakens the puff-pigtailed girl, and upon finding the feline, the child lets herself remember her dog. As colors pour forth, Rosie realizes her “heart didn’t break (like she thought it would). Rather… / …it felt wider—taller—deeper than it had ever felt before.” Digital artwork done in a primary palette explores pattern and texture. And the artist’s simple linework is skillful, offering an appealing character across a range of perspectives, actions, and framings; however, the illustrations often feel like a smartly-filled coloring book. The decision not to use crayon or ink textures matching the pets’ names (Crayon and Inky) seems a missed opportunity. Marcero’s text is the real star, as she delves into a difficult topic with lush descriptions and empathy. Thoughtful endpapers round out the story, as readers are comforted by Rosie’s healing process.
A good addition to the loss-of-a-pet bookshelf. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4413-2287-6
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Peter Pauper Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
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
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