A bittersweet exploration of the enduring bond between a growing boy and his aging companion.
A touching, understated story in which a boy looks back at growing up with his faithful dog, Bud.
The huge, tan dog of indeterminate breed has floppy ears, a large nose and drooping, old eyes, as shown in the poignant illustration on the cover. The boy who narrates the rhyming story wonders how much Bud remembers of all their years together, with flashback views of the pair playing ball, skiing, chasing the family truck and getting covered with mud at a nearby pond. Now the faithful dog is too old to play fetch with his owner, who is also growing older and perhaps feeling his childhood coming to an end. The final pages unfold in a powerful conclusion as the boy realizes his dog is having trouble getting up. His one-word commands on successive pages (“Stop. / Sit. / Stay”) are tremendously affecting, helping readers realize the dog will not be able to stay with his beloved boy too much longer. The sun is setting in glowing shades of pink and orange in the last spread as the boy hugs his dog and promises to be his friend always, no matter what. Soft-focus, impressionistic illustrations with oddly adult children and the saggy, sad-eyed dog create a dreamlike world with a misty quality suggestive of hazy memories.
A bittersweet exploration of the enduring bond between a growing boy and his aging companion. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-896580-83-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tradewind Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2014
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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