A sweet pooch portrait of unconditional love.
No, dog!
A frisky pup bounds through his home, radiating happiness and cheerfully making messes wherever he goes. Crisp, pithy phrases replete with rhyme and repetition will have young readers eagerly joining in as this mischievous mutt gets into lots of trouble. “Happy dog. / Yappy dog. / Settle down, you snappy dog,” his boy warns, but he goes unheeded. When the dog rips up a beloved toy, he finally gets a well-deserved scolding and, wounded to the bone, runs off. As he sadly wanders the streets in search of a place to stay, the digitally enhanced acrylic illustrations show him from different angles as he comes to terms with his new situation. But life on the street is no place for a dog such as he. “Enough, dog. / You’re tough, dog. / But not for living rough, dog,” a well-meaning new canine friend tells him. At the perfect moment, the dog’s boy appears, searching by flashlight, and the two are joyfully reunited. The jubilant pup gets overexcited again (“No, dog… / Whoa, dog!”), but as the two curl up for sleep with the newly repaired toy, the boy adds, “I’ll never let you go, dog.” Dog lovers and energetic youngsters will find much to love here, and the final note of acceptance provides comfort and warmth.
A sweet pooch portrait of unconditional love. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-399-25447-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 3, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2012
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 sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends.
Is it a stormy-night scare or a bedtime book? Both!
Little Blue Truck and his good friend Toad are heading home when a storm lets loose. Before long, their familiar, now very nervous barnyard friends (Goat, Hen, Goose, Cow, Duck, and Pig) squeeze into the garage. Blue explains that “clouds bump and tumble in the sky, / but here inside we’re warm and dry, / and all the thirsty plants below / will get a drink to help them grow!” The friends begin to relax. “Duck said, loud as he could quack it, / ‘THUNDER’S JUST A NOISY RACKET!’ ” In the quiet after the storm, the barnyard friends are sleepy, but the garage is not their home. “ ‘Beep!’ said Blue. ‘Just hop inside. / All aboard for the bedtime ride!’ ” Young readers will settle down for their own bedtimes as Blue and Toad drop each friend at home and bid them a good night before returning to the garage and their own beds. “Blue gave one small sleepy ‘Beep.’ / Then Little Blue Truck fell fast asleep.” Joseph’s rich nighttime-blue illustrations (done “in the style of [series co-creator] Jill McElmurry”) highlight the power of the storm and capture the still serenity that follows. Little Blue Truck has been chugging along since 2008, but there seems to be plenty of gas left in the tank.
A sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-328-85213-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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