Silly, with a dash of science.
In this prehistoric tale, a misfit hatchling from an abandoned egg ends up saving his family.
“Edna the very first chicken was hatching her very first eggs.” Her seven eggs hatch, and Ankylosaurus, Parasaurolophus, and Triceratops gather to admire her chicks. The dinosaurs point out another, speckled egg. It isn’t Edna’s, but she decides to take care of it anyway. After all, “one more baby won’t make any difference.” Famous last words. Unlike Edna’s other babies, Sinclair is a feathered dinosaur with “long, sharp teeth and claws instead of wings.” The story humorously riffs on the fact that birds and dinosaurs are related in evolutionary terms, while the art makes it abundantly clear that Sinclair is no chicken. Still, though he has trouble pecking, fluttering, and clucking like the others, his family lovingly accepts him. Bernstein’s illustrations have a loose, comical style that will mitigate readers’ fears when a big, mean, fast, hungry Gorgosaurus makes off with two of Sinclair’s sisters. All the chickens pursue the beast, but speedy velociraptor Sinclair catches up and rescues his sisters, who declare him the “BEST. CHICKEN. EVER.” An author’s note explains the science behind the story: Many birds do imprint on the first living thing they see, while paleontologist Robert Bakker has found evidence that velociraptors really did spend time in trees.
Silly, with a dash of science. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781250781994
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
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
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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