Friendship and a helping hand during dangerous times are saving graces
Denizens of the forest join together to save their friend from a toothy predator.
After a raven informs Wren that a fox is out to eat the titular rabbit, Wren hurries to Mouse to share their concern. The two then proceed to inform a hedgehog, a nuthatch, a squirrel, and a mother pig. Their worries about Little Rabbit are mixed with fretful feelings about their own safety. When Mama Pig refuses her help, the others bid the rabbit farewell. The fierce and toothy fox confronts the tearful rabbit, but all is not lost, as Little Rabbit’s friends, including the formerly reluctant pig, band together and chase away the fox. Herrenberger’s message is clear: There is safety in numbers when confronting danger. His watercolor depictions of the animals are beautifully and realistically detailed and show a wide range of emotions. While books that deal with the very timely problem of bullying are important, the fact that the tale is set in the natural world raises at least one concern. It is, after all, quite reasonable, even necessary, that a fox will pursue a rabbit for a meal, and therefore caregivers may need to address that nuance.
Friendship and a helping hand during dangerous times are saving graces . (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-988-8341-09-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: minedition
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 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
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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