A sensitive story about the death of a much-loved pet.
A girl grieves for her dead cat but finds solace in moving on.
Lilah is pictured on the book’s cover happily reading to Olive, her loving and attentive feline. The title page, with images of flyers about a lost cat, hint at the sadness to come, and when Lilah returns from school one day, her mother tells her that Olive is dead. The difficult scene plays out in the illustrations, with no mention of the words death or dead, but Lilah’s tears make it clear what has happened. A tree planted in memory of Olive provides no peace, only anger. Through the seasons, the tree grows, but Lilah refuses to interact with it. Enter a striped cat who returns day after day to sit in Olive’s favorite spots despite Lilah’s anger. And then the new cat climbs Olive’s tree. Predictably, Lilah rescues the cat, begins to appreciate and enjoy her memories of Olive, and embraces the new pet. In this gentle tale that treads familiar ground, a child faces grief with help from an affectionate new companion—though an author’s note with tips on dealing with this very difficult subject might have been helpful. The softly colored illustrations are appealing and do not overplay the presentation. Olive is light-skinned with black hair. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A sensitive story about the death of a much-loved pet. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-76050-408-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little Hare/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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
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