No flubs for this cat and kid. Just satisfying bedtime reading.
Flubby is back—but not to sleep.
What child hasn’t resisted sleep at one time or another? So it will make sense to readers that when Flubby gets a new bed, the fussy feline doesn’t want to sleep in it. Using the repetitive pattern of successful books for beginning readers, Flubby’s child-owner tries to solve Flubby’s insomnia problem four different ways, offering a new pillow, a warm blanket, a lullaby, and a bedtime snack—all to no avail. In typical cat fashion, the contrary cat finds his way back onto the child’s bed with a “Meow.” A few deft pen strokes convey both cat’s and child’s emotions and the child’s increasing frustration. Morris uses two spreads for each episode, with one page divided into two panels. At last Flubby solves the problem on his own, claiming the child’s stuffed animal to cuddle with in the dark. A culminating repetition of all the things “Flubby did not need” provides vocabulary review and leads to the satisfying conclusion: “Flubby just needed a friend.” The muted palette of grayish-brown, blue, green, and orange is well-suited for the bedtime setting. The text’s simple declarative sentences and repeated phrases use fewer than 50 words, almost guaranteeing success for new readers. Flubby’s child-owner is not gendered and has wavy brown hair and skin. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
No flubs for this cat and kid. Just satisfying bedtime reading. (Early reader. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-38284-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
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
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
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