Though this is something of a one-joke, tail-wagging-the-dog tale, kids will enjoy the playfulness and, no doubt, try...
Stories about going to the library on a rainy day are not new, but this one has a cunning twist.
It’s raining outside, and Sam, a white girl, is cozily reading when her dog, Benny, tries to get her to play with him. Instead, she takes him to the library to check out a book for him. But the stern librarian (a white woman wearing red glasses) boots them out. Dogs are not welcome. Undeterred, Sam ties Benny to a fence outside the library and chooses several books that she holds up to the window. A book about knights? Benny pees against a tree. A book about the circus? Benny turns his back. On her third try, Sam finds the perfect book for Benny. Here’s the twist: the book is not a storybook but a cookbook of sausages. Both dog and girl are happy. Some sentences are printed in boldface type, underscoring the characters’ interactions. The sprightly illustrations utilize a strong line and add intriguing background details. The appealing cover depicts Sam in a yellow slicker and Benny holding a book in his mouth, foretelling the storyline. While most of the illustrations are fairly realistic, Benny, perhaps some kind of terrier, is blue rather than a natural dog color and sports a rather distracting, drooping mustachio.
Though this is something of a one-joke, tail-wagging-the-dog tale, kids will enjoy the playfulness and, no doubt, try reading to their own dogs. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-60537-352-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clavis
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
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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