Will leave anyone grieving feeling seen and hugged.
A boy deals with the loss of his dog.
Ever since Benito was born, his dog, Perro, has been his faithful companion. But one day, when Benito invites Perro to go on a walk, the elderly dog stumbles and is unable to get up. Benito’s father takes Perro to the vet but returns alone. Benito is devastated, missing even Perro’s wet-dog smell after a walk in the rain. The time comes to prepare for Dia de los Muertos, and though Benito doesn’t feel like doing anything, his mother convinces him to help. As he joins his parents in gathering marigolds, buying candles, and arranging family portraits on the altar, he learns the meaning of each symbol and the reason for the holiday. “We don’t celebrate the dead,” his father tells him, “but the love we have for them.” As they share memories of deceased loved ones, Benito understands that as long as he remembers him, Perro will be with him always. The text is minimal, providing the story a strong backbone without overexplaining. The result is a tale that will help children articulate their own feelings while giving them space to infer and project deeper emotional nuances. The lush illustrations—including a joyful representation of Perro’s spirit—counterbalance Benito’s sadness and invite readers to linger on each scene. Benito and his parents are Latine and brown-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Will leave anyone grieving feeling seen and hugged. (author’s note, Spanish-English glossary) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781499813876
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
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
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
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