This lesson on gossip and rumors goes down like a spoonful of sugar.
When her class starts to see Miss Fox in the frequent company of Officer Blue Fox, rumors start to fly that their teacher is in trouble with the law.
Young Bear sees the officer stop Miss Fox on her bike. He tells his classmates. Then Frog sees the policeman escorting his teacher into the police station. He shares, as well. And when the class starts seeing the pair together more often, the rumors and gossip really get going. They wonder why she is in so much trouble—after all, “Miss Fox believe[s] in peace. And in recycling.” They spy her in a floppy red hat and sunglasses “disguise” and then spot her placing a suitcase in her car. But the straw that breaks the proverbial camel’s back is the travel brochure on Miss Fox’s desk. They rush to assure their beloved teacher (who is accompanied by Officer Blue Fox!) that they will visit her in jail. Adults, and some children, will see the resolution coming a mile away. But their teacher cannot leave for her honeymoon without one last lesson about getting all the facts straight before spreading stories about other people. Kennedy’s anthropomorphized multi-species cast of characters is as charming and expressive as ever, especially when envisioning Miss Fox in black-and-white stripes. Sly clues sprinkled throughout point readers to the big reveal at the end.
This lesson on gossip and rumors goes down like a spoonful of sugar. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8075-5165-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: May 8, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2012
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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