A whimsically illustrated, poetic ode to aloneness and self-acceptance.
This whale tale, based on a true story, looks at the benefits and drawbacks of being alone.
After a brief introduction in a typewriter-style font, a whale named 52 shares his unique perspective on the ocean. He admires other whales who live together in pods: “They’re just like me, except one thing, they can’t quite seem to hear me sing.” As 52 points out, whales use their voices to identify others of their kind, and 52’s different voice makes him mostly invisible. However, when he’s alone, he can see beauty that other creatures miss. The whale is mostly at peace with his differences and happy with who he is, even if it means that he’s sometimes lonely. Author DePalma and illustrator Brown create a hero with whom young readers will identify, and they’ll be sympathetic to his plight. DePalma’s rhymes scan well, and the accessible vocabulary includes challenging words with wonderful sounds to read aloud (askew, trickles, barnacles). The descriptive poetry effectively dovetails with Brown’s cartoonlike, occasionally abstract illustrations, which sometimes feel magical. Some readers may be saddened by the lack of a solution to 52’s solitude, but others may wish to learn more about the real-life whale that inspired the story. (A companion audiobook, read by comedian Patton Oswalt, is available at the publisher’s website.)
A whimsically illustrated, poetic ode to aloneness and self-acceptance.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-7334055-0-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: Umbrelly Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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