An optional purchase that can be used effectively in groups in schools or libraries.
What do tigers like to do at dinner parties?
A cautious mouse is getting ready to entertain a tiger and thinks that the key to its success is in a book entitled: How to Impress a Tiger. The mouse feels quite prepared, in spite of some early nervousness, and it puts a record on the turntable (wait—have young readers seen this device before?), mixes punch, and festoons its home with party decorations. When the tiger enters, the mouse roars, thinking “ ‘Rooooaaaarrrr!’ means ‘hello,’ ” and does as the book suggests: “When you say ‘Hello,’ put your hands up like claws and show your teeth. That is the polite greeting.” Unfortunately, the friendly tiger at the door is quite scared and screams in large letters: “AHHHHHHH!” She’s ready to turn tail, but the mouse immediately works to save the situation, consulting the manual once again and finding that now, somehow, the advice is just the opposite. The diligent host has been correct about the peanut-butter sandwiches but soon learns as well that greeting the tiger nicely and giving her the chance to play checkers and wear a polka-dot party hat will make her your friend for life. Heavy black outlines and flat blocks of color show off the mouse’s cozy home to advantage in what look like digital illustrations. The book’s tongue-in-cheek premise provides read-aloud fun and opportunities for some good roars.
An optional purchase that can be used effectively in groups in schools or libraries. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: April 9, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-256829-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
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
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
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