Though his story is a bit wordy (but well-suited to a read-aloud), few will be able to resist Enzo’s charm.
Traffic may not daunt the race car–chasing dog, but Halloween certainly does.
It doesn’t help that Zoë gets Daddy to tell all about Halloween “the scary way.” Denny turns off the lights, puts a flashlight under his chin, and tells of ghosts and spooks running through the neighborhood. The little dog thinks, “It’s going to take all my energy to protect us from this impending invasion.” His tongue-in-cheek first-person (first-dog?) narration provides an unusual perspective on Halloween. For instance, he believes that the jack-o’-lantern Zoë and Denny carved has put an evil spell on his humans (both white), transforming them into a fairy princess and a scarecrow. But the last straw for the dog in the green dragon costume is when his barks cause everyone to run away—from him. To save them, he runs away himself. It is only when Zoë finds him and finally explains that Halloween is dress-up that Enzo loses his haunted and hangdog look, and the night ends on a loving note. Alley’s artwork uses pen and ink, pencil, watercolor, gouache, acrylics, and spilled coffee to create joyful family scenes that revolve around Halloween fun—few pages will be truly frightening for young readers, but they will understand Enzo’s fear, nonetheless, which is clear in his body language and facial expressions.
Though his story is a bit wordy (but well-suited to a read-aloud), few will be able to resist Enzo’s charm. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-238061-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
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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