Phoebe and her best friend score a touchdown with this groundbreaking pairing of a sports-minded girl and her dog.
A perky Australian labradoodle narrates this sports-themed tale describing the dog’s interest in playing soccer and football with a group of neighborhood children.
The story is written by a long-term ESPN host and his wife, using their own dog and family as models for the main characters. The dog, Phoebe, has fluffy, white fur and an unusual, bright pink tail. She considers herself an integral part of the human family, referring to family members as Mom, Dad, sister, and brother. (The family has light skin, and the young daughter wears red glasses.) At the neighborhood playground Phoebe wants to join in the day’s informal pickup games of soccer and football with a group of children, including her “sister.” The dog knows the basic rules of the games from watching her owner on his sports show on TV, so she jumps right in and plays, scoring goals and touchdowns (of sorts). Phoebe helps the little girl feel better when she falls down, and a happy conclusion ensues with kids and dog tired after their afternoon playing outside. While the story is a little forced, positive attributes include a female dog and a female main character (a rare and welcome pairing), a group of kids of different ethnicities playing unorganized ball games outdoors without adults directing the action, and a plot with a dog enjoying a taste of two popular sports. Bold digitally produced illustrations use a variety of perspectives and lots of motion, with speech balloons and sound effects providing additional interest.
Phoebe and her best friend score a touchdown with this groundbreaking pairing of a sports-minded girl and her dog. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: June 5, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4814-8931-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories.
Kids know vegetables can be scary, but rarely are edible roots out to get someone. In this whimsical mock-horror tale, carrots nearly frighten the whiskers off Jasper Rabbit, an interloper at Crackenhopper Field.
Jasper loves carrots, especially those “free for the taking.” He pulls some in the morning, yanks out a few in the afternoon, and comes again at night to rip out more. Reynolds builds delicious suspense with succinct language that allows understatements to be fully exploited in Brown’s hilarious illustrations. The cartoon pictures, executed in pencil and then digitally colored, are in various shades of gray and serve as a perfectly gloomy backdrop for the vegetables’ eerie orange on each page. “Jasper couldn’t get enough carrots … / … until they started following him.” The plot intensifies as Jasper not only begins to hear the veggies nearby, but also begins to see them everywhere. Initially, young readers will wonder if this is all a product of Jasper’s imagination. Was it a few snarling carrots or just some bathing items peeking out from behind the shower curtain? The ending truly satisfies both readers and the book’s characters alike. And a lesson on greed goes down like honey instead of a forkful of spinach.
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0297-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
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