A clever way to approach a conversation on assumptions.
A picture-book debut that looks at common superstitions and misconceptions.
A stork is going fishing. “If I’m lucky, I’ll have fish for dinner,” the long-legged bird says hopefully. But suddenly, a black cat crosses the path. “OH NO! BAD LUCK!… / I won’t catch anything today!” The black cat is also going fishing. “If I’m lucky, I’ll have fish for dinner,” the feline purrs. But: “OH NO! A RACCOON! That masked bandit will steal my fish!” Coincidentally, the raccoon is also going fishing. The refrain repeats. Four animals, all hoping for a fish dinner, suddenly crowd the dock, each looking warily at the others, afraid of all the mistaken beliefs they’ve previously heard. The raccoon fears catching warts from the frog; the frog hopes the stork doesn’t deliver any inconvenient babies. Each eyes the others suspiciously. But what luck! They each catch a fish! Each superstition or myth is unraveled as the animals apologize to one another. Stork is particularly perplexed: “Wait. What? Why would I deliver babies?” Awan’s illustrations use contrast effectively; the bold, simply shaped animals stand out starkly against the light sky. The text also pops in dark, blocky typeface. Appended backmatter further explains the origins of the misconceptions associated with each animal. The question of the fishes’ luck goes unaddressed, however.
A clever way to approach a conversation on assumptions. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-324-01552-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Norton Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 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
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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