Armchair animal watchers will enjoy the outdoor sights in this installment.
A squirrel and the retired doctor who saved him continue their story in this picture-book sequel for backyard nature lovers.
Pepito the Squirrel, who was rescued from an injury by a human, enjoys his life outside, near that human’s house. The doctor and his husband are renovating the place, and they’re happy with Pepito’s antics but wish there were more squirrels in the yard. When Pepito briefly goes missing, his rescuer worries, but the animal returns with a friend with a very short tail: Colita the Squirrel. The two are soon joined by more multicolored pals: “grey, black and brown, / And, even once, a blonde squirrel was found!” Erebia describes a yard full of gardens and birds as well as Pepito’s favorite spaces, such as a mossy patch where the squirrel does cartwheels. As in the first book, the digitally altered photographs are a highlight, and this sequel features several pages of multipaneled images so that readers can imagine Pepito in action. Erebia’s scansion is consistent throughout, although some sentences are arranged a bit awkwardly to achieve rhymes (“The men were renovating, a Dutch Colonial / Where Pepito worked out, his tendons peroneal”), and the occasionally challenging vocabulary makes the book best suited to older readers or families reading together.
Armchair animal watchers will enjoy the outdoor sights in this installment.Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73608-583-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feworks
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute.
Readers bid farewell to a beloved canine character.
Momo is—or was—an adorable and very photogenic border collie owned by author Knapp. The many readers who loved him in the previous half-dozen books are in for a shock with this one. “Momo had died” is the stark reality—and there are no photographs of him here. Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be discerned under the mixed media). Previous books contained few or no words. Unfortunately, virtuosity behind a lens does not guarantee mastery of verse. The art here is accompanied by words that sometimes rhyme but never find a workable or predictable rhythm (“We’d fetch and we’d catch, / we’d run and we’d jump. Every day we found new / games to play”). It’s a pity, because the subject—a pet’s death—is an important one to address with children. Of course, Momo isn’t gone; he can still be found “everywhere” in memories. But alas, he can be found here only in the crude depictions of the darling dog so well known from the earlier books.
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693864
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Another playful imagination-stretcher.
Markle invites children to picture themselves living in the homes of 11 wild animals.
As in previous entries in the series, McWilliam’s illustrations of a diverse cast of young people fancifully imitating wild creatures are paired with close-up photos of each animal in a like natural setting. The left side of one spread includes a photo of a black bear nestling in a cozy winter den, while the right side features an image of a human one cuddled up with a bear. On another spread, opposite a photo of honeybees tending to newly hatched offspring, a human “larva” lounges at ease in a honeycomb cell, game controller in hand, as insect attendants dish up goodies. A child with an eye patch reclines on an orb weaver spider’s web, while another wearing a head scarf constructs a castle in a subterranean chamber with help from mound-building termites. Markle adds simple remarks about each type of den, nest, or burrow and basic facts about its typical residents, then closes with a reassuring reminder to readers that they don’t have to live as animals do, because they will “always live where people live.” A select gallery of traditional homes, from igloo and yurt to mudhif, follows a final view of the young cast waving from a variety of differently styled windows.
Another playful imagination-stretcher. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781339049052
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
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