A sweet and candid representation of anxiety, with a creative twist.
Phil the groundhog fights nerves on his family’s biggest day of the year.
The night before Groundhog Day, Phil is too worried to sleep. His family has high expectations for him tomorrow—what if he messes up when he makes his big announcement? With some assistance from little sister Marla, however, Phil pulls it off. Together, the siblings tell the waiting crowd of anthropomorphic animals that they still have six weeks of winter to go. Readers who have felt overwhelmed by anxiety will relate to Phil, whose feelings are cleverly captured by the illustrations. In one scene, Phil sits in bed surrounded by looming thoughts of his parents and siblings, who dwarf him in size. On another page, a winding trail of questions swirls around him: “What if I shake? What if my voice is too soft?” And when the big day rolls around, the other animals are depicted in shadowy silhouettes with unnerving stares. Happily, though, readers also see Phil try a variety of coping methods: distracting himself by making pancakes, talking through his feelings and rehearsing with Marla, and ultimately seeking out help in making a successful proclamation. His world brims with delightful details, from the little underground rooms for each member of the family to the adorable accessories depicted on the endpapers. The book concludes with a recipe for “Phil’s Pancakes” and a brief explanation of Groundhog Day.
A sweet and candid representation of anxiety, with a creative twist. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2024
ISBN: 9780823453870
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Margaret Ferguson/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2024
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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