Pure entertainment.
The bumbling and lovable detective is summoned by Petunia Skunk to solve a ridiculous mystery.
From the start, accessible text and detailed art combine to create a silly, merry frolic. The leonine protagonist, whose actions and behaviors are entirely anthropomorphic, is clad in quasi-traditional spy clothes: fedora and trench coat—both turquoise-colored. A single sentence opens the story: “Agent Lion was hard at work.” The double-page spread shows him flying a red kite across a bucolic scene with blue skies, green grass, and picnickers. After his secret radio sends him to upscale Hotel Du Lox, Agent Lion foists his kite upon the concierge and follows Petunia to the scene of the crime: a large room devoid of its earlier party decorations and treats. Delightful art—often in split frames on a page—complements a text in which Petunia strives for, and finds, clues while Agent Lion’s comical blunders include misinterpreting evidence, falling into a custodian’s mop bin, and being distracted by the hotel’s considerable amenities. Still, he borders on pomposity. There is a refreshing lack of rancor, however, even from accused suspects. Illustrated animals are clever human parodies—even including the hotel’s framed artwork. Mrs. Walrus, well-appointed, smartly dressed, and enormous, is especially funny. The case’s solution will have been evident to observant readers from the start, but that would have spoiled all the fun, as Mrs. Walrus points out. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 44% of actual size.)
Pure entertainment. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-286918-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2020
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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