A warm and—in more ways than one—very cool story about discovering one’s own identity.
Deciding that penguin life isn’t cool, Clive takes steps to change things.
Clive Penguin is suffering an identity crisis. Being a penguin isn’t so hot. Clive’s sick of the “same old snow” and the “same old penguins.” Clive wants out of the frigid environment, longing to be somewhere else or even “someone else.” The fed-up penguin decides to skip town, believing that something wonderful must be right around the corner. Then Clive makes an epic discovery. Readers will giggle that Clive ignores a colossal whale in favor of something orange floating in the sea—a “unique, fashionable, versatile” tea cozy covering a teapot. Clive models the object in various ways, then returns to huddle among the penguins, sporting the cozy as a hat. However, lest readers think Clive has found a happily-ever-after ending, by the book’s conclusion, our hero is “boiling.” This drily witty story will have young readers chuckling, but it’ll make them think, too, for it’s about being unsure of yourself and where you belong and taking steps toward finding your place in the world. Clive’s return to the colony proves that while familiarity can breed discontent, it may also bring warmth and safety. The lively, uncluttered illustrations feature blues, whites, oranges, and yellows.
A warm and—in more ways than one—very cool story about discovering one’s own identity. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9781454955214
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2024
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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