Certain to deliver giggles aplenty.
A boisterous bunch of fungi drive a peaceful marmot from his underground home.
“As everyone knows, mushrooms are LOUD.” Mushrooms “gossip all day and argue all night.” They tell jokes and long stories and “sing long, loud songs about how great it is to be a mushroom.” And when some mushroom spores blow over to Monty the marmot’s home, they annoy the heck out of him. Delightful details in the illustrations show Monty’s dedication to a quiet lifestyle: When readers first meet him, he’s curled up with a blanket, reading The Art of Putting Boats in Things, and later he works on a model boat. The friendly, oblivious mushrooms test his patience by putting on a raucous puppet show under the light of a full moon. Monty tries to talk to them (“Nature is all about communication”), but they’re unable to provide even 10 seconds of respite. So Monty decides to move out…and in a laugh-out-loud twist ending, some new creatures move in. The layout includes full-bleed page spreads as well as comiclike panels, and one inventive 90-degree page turn. The noisy mushrooms are varied in appearance, with cartoonishly large grins; Monty’s mounting frustration is evidenced by expressive eyebrows and motion lines. The rhyming song that the mushrooms sing is an especially funny touch, and readers will cheer as the fungi get their comeuppance at last.
Certain to deliver giggles aplenty. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781665932592
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
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
Handy advice for perpetually inquisitive children.
Interior decorator and TV personality Gaines invites readers to open their eyes and exercise their imaginations.
There’s a world to be explored out there—and only children can really take part. What does “looking for wonder” entail? Slowing down and looking up, around, and everywhere. At the outset, a group of eager, racially diverse young friends—including one who uses a wheelchair—are fully prepared for a grand adventure. They offer tips about how and where to look: Why, there’s a “grand parade” of marching ants! And, these kids add, perspective is key. A rainy day might signal gloom to some, but to those filled with wonder, showers bring “magic puddles for play”; a forest is “an enchanted world,” the ocean conceals “a spectacular city,” and the night sky boasts “extraordinary sights.” The takeaway: “Wonder is never in short supply.” It’s a robust, empowering message, as is the exhortation to “keep your mind open, and let curiosity guide the way.” Youngsters are also advised to share their discoveries. The upbeat narrative is delivered in clunky verse, but the colorful cartoonish illustrations brimming with activity and good cheer (including some adorable anthropomorphized animals in the backgrounds) make up for the textual lapses and should motivate readers to embark on their own “wonder explorations.”
Handy advice for perpetually inquisitive children. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781400247417
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tommy Nelson
Review Posted Online: today
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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