A sweet, if uneven, tale.
In something of a variant on Andersen’s “Ugly Duckling,” Cuckoo searches for someone who might understand him.
When the adorable Cuckoo hatches, his family members (obviously not cuckoos) say, “Too-too-weet!” But all he says back is “Cuckoo,” which alienates him from the others. So he bravely leaves to find understanding. Pages of fruitless encounters with animals and people saying different things bring the young bird no closer to companionship, so he goes to school to learn others’ languages. Unfortunately, he hasn’t the gift for others’ gab and is stymied in his efforts. In fact, “Cuckoo was exhausted. His brain hurt from all the learning.” He heads to a rooftop to relax, and from his perch he hears someone calling, “Cuckoo!” It turns out that this call doesn’t come from another bird like him but from a toddler’s cuckoo toy. Lo and behold, the toy has just about worn out, and when it breaks, Cuckoo flies through the window to assume its place. With the dedication announcing “Based on a true story. (Sort of),” readers are invited to speculate about the intended meaning behind Cuckoo’s adventure, but this remains elusive. This is not Andersen’s bird finding his own kind, and Cuckoo’s ultimate role as plaything reads like The Velveteen Rabbit subverted. The endearing, digitally rendered art outshines the story.
A sweet, if uneven, tale. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 10, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-16497-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Feb. 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2014
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
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
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