Another delightful addition to the Penny series.
Penny waits all winter long to use her new sled.
After a six-year break (Penny and Her Marble, 2013), anthropomorphic mouse Penny returns for some seasonal fun. It begins with Penny waiting for snow so she can use her new sled. Her parents both say it will snow soon, but she can’t wait. Penny tries everything to will the snow to fall, even wearing mittens to bed. But, as winter continues, there’s still no snow, and Penny must partake in other winter activities with her family. With no snow in sight, she finds new ways to use her sled. Penny uses it to make a fort for her baby siblings and a magic carpet ride for her doll, but she eventually plays with the sled less and less. Soon spring arrives, and Penny proclaims she is done waiting for snow. Mama suggests she wait for something else, and Penny discovers something worth waiting for. Henkes has created yet another charming tale that’s acutely in touch with a child’s thinking and emotions. Through five short chapters, readers experience lessons in patience, creativity, and resourcefulness. In classic Henkes style, the bright watercolor-and-ink illustrations add lovely visual accompaniment. The details in emotions and actions are excellent picture clues for early readers.
Another delightful addition to the Penny series. (Early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-293453-6
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts.
Can knightly deeds bring together a feathered odd couple who are on opposite daily schedules?
Having won over a dragon (and millions of fans) in the Caldecott Honor–winning Knight Owl (2022), the fierce yet impossibly cute nocturnal, armor-clad owlet faces a new challenge—sleep deprivation—in the wake of taking on Early Bird, a trainee who rises with the sun and chatters interminably: “I made pancakes! Do you like pancakes? I love pancakes! Where’s the syrup?” It’s enough to test the patience of even the knightliest of owls, and eventually Knight Owl explodes in anger. But although Early Bird is even smaller than her mentor, she turns out to be just as determined to achieve knighthood. After he tells her to leave, she acquits herself so nobly in a climactic encounter with a pack of wolves that she earns a place at the castle. Denise proves a dab hand at depicting genuinely slinky, scary wolves as well as slipping cheerfully anachronistic newspapers and other sight gags into his realistically wrought medieval settings to underscore the tale’s tongue-in-cheek tone. Better yet, a final view of the doughty duo sitting down together to a lavish pancake breakfast/dinner at dusk ends the episode in a sweet rush of syrup and bonhomie.
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9780316564526
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
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