Gently makes the case that everyone should follow their bliss.
There’s no place like home, but you can still make room for adventure.
Sisters Eeny, Meeny, and Miney Mole live companionably in their deep, dark hole. All feel safe in this atmosphere that’s always the same. Older sisters Meeny and Miney don’t ever want to leave, but the much-younger Eeny also loves the world Up Above. Both Meeny and Miney worry about Eeny’s trips Up Above and warn her of the possible dangers; the worst of all are “humans.” This makes Eeny wary but does not deter her. She brings a shovel and pail when she makes her explorations Up Above, and learns tidbits about life there from new friends Worm, Cat, Snake, and Centipede. One day, Something large with five wriggly parts comes down over her head. It smells of dirt and digging. She is frightened but reminds herself that “some moles are content in their old holes. But some moles are not me.” The feeling of Something’s paw is soft and comforting and new. Like Spring. There are some holes in this story; in particular, children will wonder just why Eeny always totes shovel and pail but hardly ever seems to use them. But Brown’s soft illustrations echo Beatrix Potter’s in both delicacy and whimsy, and Yolen’s story of bravery justified should put a smile in readers’ hearts. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Gently makes the case that everyone should follow their bliss. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-62371-865-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Crocodile/Interlink
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
