Here’s hoping that this welcome return presages plenty of additional adventures.
Fans of porcine siblings Fergus and Dink’s first outing will be thrilled to welcome them back to the beach, while pirate-loving listeners (familiar or not) will be particularly pleased.
Once again, Sattler offers a fresh and clever take on a perennially popular theme. This time, it’s Fergus’ turn to help Dink have a good day. Waking up from a nap on Dave, the surfboard that started it all, Dink is grumpy. He doesn’t want to wade (the water is too cold) or build a sand castle (his unsuccessful efforts are too close to the water’s edge). Even his snack is ruined when Fergus unwittingly flings sand on him. Fergus’ find—a pirate hat—proves temporarily intriguing, but Dink still winds up stomping along the shore. Slimed with seaweed and nipped by a crab, he comes careening back to his brother only to find a picture-perfect pirate ship made of sand and himself made one of the crew. Brisk dialogue gains extra humor from the bright and bouncy illustrations, created with acrylics and colored pencil. The brothers’ expressive faces, especially their eyes, which roll, squint and smile, add emotional heft. Simple backgrounds allow the boys to claim center stage, while textured strokes effectively evoke the broad swath of sand and the swirling sea.
Here’s hoping that this welcome return presages plenty of additional adventures. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 8, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61963-200-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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