A bird learns a lesson in friendship and conquers his fears—sort of—in Kaczman’s quirky work. “There once was a bird who did not fly,” reads the opening. “He preferred to walk. All the other birds thought his behavior was odd, so he spent most of his time by himself.” Expanding on the style introduced in When a Line Bends, a Shape Begins (1997), Kaczman’s colorful ink-and-watercolor illustrations, full of sharp angles and curving lines, picture the bird’s pointed beak next to the worm’s curving body. A full-bleed spread with an undulating left-side border ripples onto the facing page to meet the text. “ ‘Please don’t eat me!’ ” cries the worm. Being a bird of a different feather, so to speak, he eats only seeds and berries, believing worms to be “completely unappetizing”; hence, the two become fast friends. Kaczman varies the pacing as the pair goes for a stroll; a set of postcard panels—one bathed in shades of blue and green, the other in orange and yellow—show the two together from morning till night. When the two travel south aboard the back of a fox, first, and then a snake, both attempt to eat their passengers. Thankfully, the fox cottons to the mismatched companions and can’t stomach the idea of making a meal out of them; the snake, uncharmed, can’t slither fast enough to catch them. The clever ending shows the benefits of perseverance and sticking to your guns, made easier by a supportive pal. Kaczman’s sly, good humor, exuberant, original illustrations, and positive message make this a must read. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2002
ISBN: 0-618-09460-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
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