Misfits, bullies, educators, parents and kids of all kinds just may learn a thing or two from this nocturnal love story.
It looks as if Mr. Prickles will never fit in with the cast of furry forest creatures that cavort each night. This makes him feel “Very prickly.” That is, until he meets Miss Pointypants.
The lonely porcupine does his best to make friends with Raccoon, Chipmunk and Skunk, but he is too different and not “cute,” “cuddly” or “playful” like them. Angry at being avoided and ignored, he retires to his stump to glare at them “with very prickly regard.” One night he notices Miss Pointypants at a nearby stump. Slowly they become friends and enjoy a nighttime stroll, a splash in the lake, a woodsy snack and a romantic moonrise. When the tormenting trio sets upon them with taunts and teasing, the duo “didn’t seem to care,” discovering that “[i]t’s much nicer being alone with someone else.” LaReau clearly enjoys the particularly pertinent and pointed power of alliteration and wordplay here—more accomplished readers should, too. Magoon’s cartoonlike illustrations manage to capture the range of Mr. Prickles’ emotions as he goes from hopeful to annoyed to infuriated to surprisingly happy all within a relatively dark palette. The pair have a history of creating humorous tales that tackle not-so-funny issues (Ugly Fish, 2006, and Rabbit and Squirrel: A Tale of War and Peas, 2008).
Misfits, bullies, educators, parents and kids of all kinds just may learn a thing or two from this nocturnal love story. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Dec. 20, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-59643-483-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Neal Porter/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: Nov. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2011
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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