This quixotic German import is entertaining, if you can get past the title.
What an unfortunate title for this wry twist on Are You My Mother. Insertion of the word “and” before “the” would so easily have eliminated the bawdy suggestion.
A fox is on a search for an edible present for his wife and steals a goose egg. “What a delicious surprise it will be when a roast goose hatches for dinner,” he thinks to himself. When he runs directly into a bear, though, he drops the egg. The bear picks it up, the egg hatches, and the gosling cries, “Mama!” The bear wants no part of being the gosling’s mother and tries to leave her behind, but the imprinted gosling clings to the bear. Thinking to prove that he is not the gosling’s mama, the bear proceeds to perform a series of actions he believes only bears can do: climbing, running fast and jumping into the river. In each case, the gosling manages to keep up using her own traits, each time calling, “Mama”—and ultimately endearing herself to the bear. But can she catch a salmon…? The fox lurks in the background throughout, ultimately unwittingly abetting the gosling’s final test of bearhood in a tongue-in-cheek turnaround. The cartoonish illustrations embellish the humor, with the colors washing over the definition lines and visible brush strokes.
This quixotic German import is entertaining, if you can get past the title. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-62636-384-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
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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
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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