A cheeky tale worth crowing about.
Barnyard animals attempt to hire a new rooster.
A cow seeks a “focused and undistracted rooster who will get this farm back on track.” But the applicants have their own ideas. A white-feathered, caffeine-loving chicken offers to wake the farm animals up with freshly brewed coffee. “It will never work for us,” responds Cow. The other candidates include an inexplicably tuxedo-clad rooster who wants to ring a bell instead of crowing, a small brown bird whose lack of farm experience quickly becomes evident, and a translucent green blob who speaks a language Cow can’t understand. At last, the farm’s original rooster wakes up and crows; “the roostering part of being a rooster” isn’t very demanding, so he’s been devoting his time to playing music, which keeps him up late. The “solution” to ensuring that a rooster crows every morning will have grown-ups chuckling about the inefficiencies of the workplace. Illustrations dominated by rich reds and browns and cool blues bring the setting to life. Stegmaier gives this farmyard a clever modern flair; the cow is dressed in overalls and boots, her hair in a topknot, while the “extremely cool and helpful sheep” who narrates is clad in a sweater and a pleated skirt. While the jokes about the trials and tribulations of the job market may be lost on younger readers, kids will nevertheless giggle at the expressive animals and whimsical artwork.
A cheeky tale worth crowing about. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 18, 2024
ISBN: 9780451476838
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2024
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
A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors.
A confused squirrel overreacts to the falling autumn leaves.
Relaxing on a tree branch, Squirrel admires the red, gold, and orange leaves. Suddenly Squirrel screams, “One of my leaves is…MISSING!” Searching for the leaf, Squirrel tells Bird, “Someone stole my leaf!” Spying Mouse sailing in a leaf boat, Squirrel asks if Mouse stole the leaf. Mouse calmly replies in the negative. Bird reminds Squirrel it’s “perfectly normal to lose a leaf or two at this time of year.” Next morning Squirrel panics again, shrieking, “MORE LEAVES HAVE BEEN STOLEN!” Noticing Woodpecker arranging colorful leaves, Squirrel queries, “Are those my leaves?” Woodpecker tells Squirrel, “No.” Again, Bird assures Squirrel that no one’s taking the leaves and that the same thing happened last year, then encourages Squirrel to relax. Too wired to relax despite some yoga and a bath, the next day Squirrel cries “DISASTER” at the sight of bare branches. Frantic now, Squirrel becomes suspicious upon discovering Bird decorating with multicolored leaves. Is Bird the culprit? In response, Bird shows Squirrel the real Leaf Thief: the wind. Squirrel’s wildly dramatic, misguided, and hyperpossessive reaction to a routine seasonal event becomes a rib-tickling farce through clever use of varying type sizes and weights emphasizing his absurd verbal pronouncements as well as exaggerated, comic facial expressions and body language. Bold colors, arresting perspectives, and intense close-ups enhance Squirrel’s histrionics. Endnotes explain the science behind the phenomenon.
A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-3520-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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