Light, charming fare for animal lovers who can’t resist tales of critters acting like humans.
A dog’s chaotic pursuit of a rabbit blossoms into a friendship in this picture-book sequel.
Feinberg returns with another tale about Cooper, a “civilized” canine who skis and attends the ballet. The pooch still has “one awful habit”—he can’t resist chasing rabbits. But one day—after he pursues a frightened bunny over field and dale—it emerges that his main goal is to befriend his quarry, not eat it. Lucky, too, because this rabbit has nowhere to stay. “Connections were made / where differences had been,” and, in more rhyming couplets, Cooper becomes thick as thieves with Jack Rabbit, an adorable, bucktoothed bunny. They play drums, golf, ride bicycles, play chess, and eat cake together. Sometimes Jack is “homesick for his old bunny friends,” and Cooper offers him tissues—though it is never established why the rabbit can’t return home. Cooper and Jack’s humanlike antics are sweet and cutesy in this enjoyable, fluffy tale. But engagement with questions of belonging, adoption, and predator-prey relationships would be best found elsewhere. Shrewd readers will note that “keep your mind and heart open when you meet someone new / you might find a great friend even if different from you!” is good advice for children but not most bunnies. Mosca’s amicable, loose-lined watercolor scenes of suburban leisure depict a White family. Outside the house, kids with various skin tones and abilities play with both animals.
Light, charming fare for animal lovers who can’t resist tales of critters acting like humans.Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73672-042-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: SDP Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 7, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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