Not the best introduction to the country in terms of either facts or a geography lesson.
A pet-store dog tired of not having a home escapes and heads across the country in search of one.
Austin, who appears to be some sort of terrier, explores the country by region, beginning in the Northeast with Maine. But although each state has some fascinating tidbit to share (some more substantial than others), none is a perfect fit for Austin. Hershey, Pennsylvania, is the home of Hershey chocolate; the world’s largest fire hydrant is in Columbia, South Carolina; and a town in West Virginia hosts an annual water-tasting competition. While many of the early states feature some solid facts, their overall relevance seems to decline as Austin’s search goes on, each state reduced to one or two, sometimes clichéd, bits of trivia (Alaska’s Iditarod, New Mexico’s hot air balloon festival, the hula in Hawaii). Each state entry presents the outline of the state, the capital clearly labeled, but readers will have to turn to the endpapers to see where each state fits into the larger map of the U.S. (Endpapers also label the capitals, block the regions by color, and show Austin’s route.) Cartoon ink illustrations colored in Photoshop use panels and spreads to cram as many states as possible into limited space.
Not the best introduction to the country in terms of either facts or a geography lesson. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-228017-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
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
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