Brava, Ozzy!
Ozzy loves attention, and what better way to get it than to play the drums?
Ozzy, an enthusiastic girl with tan skin, black hair, and adorably huge googly eyes, will do anything to be the center of attention, especially in music class. Everyone in her racially diverse class, which includes kids of varying skin tones, physical abilities, and attire, loves their music teacher, Ms. Bomba, a woman of color. When it comes time to prepare for the school recital, titled ¡Vamos a Bailar! Let’s Dance! everyone chooses an instrument. Ozzy picks the most attention-grabbing instrument she can think of: the drums. She quickly discovers that making a big noise with her bass drum isn’t the same as making music together. “You’ll get us all offbeat,” says one classmate. “She’s ruining it for everyone!” yells another. But Ms. Bomba, with her gentle kindness, steers Ozzy back to playing her steady (boring) part. Steele brilliantly evinces Ozzy’s zest for life and strong emotions with a few simple lines, and the double-page spread depicting a dejected Ozzy lying on her bed amid the detritus of an active girl with many passions captures her spirit perfectly. When the night of the recital arrives, Ozzy is uncharacteristically fazed by having so many eyes suddenly on her. But Ms. Bomba’s understanding presence is there, leading Ozzy and the group, locked into the beat, to a triumphant finish. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Brava, Ozzy! (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-274858-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
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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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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