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CYRIL AND PAT

Name: CYRIL AND PAT
Author: Emily Gravett
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3950-4

by Emily Gravett ; illustrated by Emily Gravett ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 21, 2019

Cheeky yet sincere.

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Must you and your best friend be the same type of rodent?

This ode to friendship opens with the purest scansion and a hilarious setup (joyfully repeated later) that invites readers to chime in. “Lake Park only had one squirrel, / all alone and sad (poor Cyril). / Until the morning he met Pat, / his new best friend, a big gray…”—here’s the page turn, where readers will shout rat—”SQUIRREL! Just like me,” declares Cyril, arms wide open to Pat, who sports a wobbly smile and an extremely ratlike tail. The two romp all over their big-city park, startling pigeons, nabbing duck food, and fleeing a dog. Cyril interrupts all attempts to identify Pat as a rat. Only when humans—a black mom and child, each wearing a red sweater and red galoshes—let the rat out of the bag does Cyril see the truth. The other animals, annoyed, assert that “squirrels can’t be friends with rats,” and Pat (who’s never gendered) slinks off the page. “Cyril, now back on his own, / tried to play their games alone.” But he’s unhappy—and unsafe. In a dark, visually stunning sequence outside the park, Pat saves Cyril, and all is well. Scansion (after the opening) and rhyming are inconsistent, but Gravett’s great good humor and mischievous illustrations in pencil, watercolor, and acrylic ink are bang-on, as always—especially in the fact that besides tail and ear shapes, Cyril and Pat are almost identical.

Cheeky yet sincere. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: May 21, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-5344-3950-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE HOUSE WITH A DRAGON IN IT
by Nick Lake ; illustrated by Emily Gravett

- BOOK REVIEW
THE OGRE WHO WASN'T
by Michael Morpurgo ; illustrated by Emily Gravett

- BOOK REVIEW
ISLAND OF WHISPERS
by Frances Hardinge ; illustrated by Emily Gravett

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PEANUT BUTTER & CUPCAKE

by Terry Border ; illustrated by Terry Border ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 29, 2014

Still, preschoolers will likely savor this mouthwatering treatment of a subject that looms large in many early school...

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The familiar theme of the challenges facing a new kid in town is given an original treatment by photographer Border in this book of photos of three-dimensional objects in a simple modeled landscape.

Peanut Butter is represented by a slice of white bread spread with the popular condiment. The other characters in the story—a hamburger with a pair of hot dogs in tow, a bowl of alphabet soup, a meatball jumping a rope of spaghetti, a carton of French fries and a pink cupcake—are represented by skillfully crafted models of these foods, anthropomorphized using simple wire construction. Rejected by each character in turn in his search for playmates, Peanut Butter discovers in the end that Jelly is his true match (not Cupcake, as the title suggests), perhaps because she is the only one who looks like him, being a slice of white bread spread with jelly. The friendly foods end up happily playing soccer together. Some parents may have trouble with the unabashedly happy depiction of carbs and American junk food (no carrots or celery sticks in this landscape), and others may find themselves troubled by the implication that friendship across difference is impossible.

Still, preschoolers will likely savor this mouthwatering treatment of a subject that looms large in many early school experiences. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: July 29, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-399-16773-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Philomel

Review Posted Online: May 13, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
SCAREDY SNACKS!
by Terry Border ; illustrated by Terry Border

- BOOK REVIEW
SNACK ATTACK!
by Terry Border ; illustrated by Terry Border

- BOOK REVIEW
BIG BROTHER PEANUT BUTTER
by Terry Border ; illustrated by Terry Border

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.

Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)