An interesting story of a boy’s adventure and a scientific tale all rolled into one.
The journey of Chia, a silver chinook salmon, and the adventure of a fish-loving boy converge one afternoon, teaching readers about the salmon life cycle.
Accompanied by highly textured, earth-toned illustrations, Peelen’s story follows Chia from the shores of the Pacific to her spawning ground 1,000 miles up Fourth of July Creek. She swims past a predatory harbor seal, eagle, and grizzly bear, through roots, up a fish ladder, around a dam, into the confluence of two rivers, and into a pool, where the hook of a young fly fisherman, Jon, nearly ends her epic journey. Having anticipated this fishing trip with his family for weeks, Jon wants to be family champion, as his two siblings have been on previous outings. But when Jon’s eyes meet Chia’s, he suddenly has a change of heart. Although damaged from her encounter with Jon’s hook and the grizzly bear’s claws, Chia reaches her destination and continues the life cycle. Jon and his family are depicted as black. Informative backmatter explains how intimately connected salmon are to more than “137 different species of animals, birds, and insects,” making their protection of utmost importance. Unfortunately, this section also includes a quote erroneously attributed to Chief Seattle. Despite this, useful scientific, environmental, and cultural facts about salmon raise unanswered questions to emphasize how little scientists truly know about their behavior.
An interesting story of a boy’s adventure and a scientific tale all rolled into one. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-988-3508-6-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Raven Productions, Inc.
Review Posted Online: March 4, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
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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