Stanley the yellow lab brings new meaning to the term “party animal” in this hilarious story from Bailey and Slavin, creators of the Good Times Travel Agency series (Adventures in Ancient Greece, not reviewed, etc.). When Stanley’s owners leave him alone (and lonely) every night, he gradually learns to expand his behavioral parameters. First he climbs onto the couch without being caught; next he learns how to turn on the music and kick up his heels; and then it’s on to extra meals from the refrigerator. Finally he invites all the neighbor dogs over for a real party; they in turn invite all their friends, and the ensuing risky business results in a wild party with dozens of dogs dancing, eating, and generally whooping it up. (Don’t miss the cavorting canine on the cover with the lampshade on his head or the miniature poodle swinging from the chandelier.) Of course, the owners come home early that night—illustrated with a memorable spread of all the dogs staring buggy-eyed at the door in horror. In a satisfying conclusion, Stanley gets to ride along with his owners at night when they go out, and the story of the wild party continues to circulate throughout the canine world. (“And if you don’t believe me, ask your dog.”) Slavin’s polished paintings of Stanley’s antics and Bailey’s confident, breezy story add up to a triumphant cautionary tale that will leave both adults and kids laughing. Party on, Stanley. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: March 1, 2003
ISBN: 1-55337-382-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2003
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Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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
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BOOK REVIEW
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