Not just good—great!
What to do when your kid can’t help but be good?
Papa Wolf and Mama Wolf are concerned for their son. They’ve tried everything, but he still keeps doing good things, like taking baths and playing nicely with pigs! Determined to have him carry on the family legacy of being a Big Bad Wolf, his parents send Little Good Wolf off to Bad School. But the lessons don’t go as planned. When instructor Giant threatens to “whomp” him with his club, Little Good Wolf suggests he whomp a ball instead; turns out Giant is a natural at baseball. When instructor Troll tries to teach him bad manners, Little Good Wolf suggests Troll savor each bite to really enjoy his meal. Eventually expelled, Little Good Wolf walks home in shame, just wishing his parents could love him as he is. In the forest, he meets Old Hag, who presents him with an apple that will turn good to bad (or the other way around). What will Little Good Wolf do? This fun inversion on several classic Western fairy-tale characters is full of laughs at all the ironic turns of events, with a wholesome message about acceptance and family bonds. The illustrations are sketchy and dark-toned, fitting the would-be-menacing aspects of the “bad” characters, but big smiles on many of those same characters, along with Little Good Wolf’s sweet earnestness, alleviate the potential scare factor. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not just good—great! (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-358-56188-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
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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