Not too shabby for a first taste of the Bard.
Shakespeare’s classic tragedy gets a comic retelling and a happy ending.
“Once upon a time, one hundred and fifty million years ago….” Romeosaurus’ family (a mix of dino species) are herbivores, while Juliet Rex’s (T. Rexes and a pterodactyl nurse) delight in eating meat. The two meet at a masked ball, quickly becoming friends, though the herbivores must make a quick escape after Romeo helps Auntie Gladys off the buffet table, where she’s been trussed, with an apple in her mouth, and Mercutio-tops accidentally pokes Tybalt Rex with his horns. The balcony scene leads to a cementing of Romeo and Juliet’s friendship, and the two leave notes for their loved ones and run off to the tar pits. Knowing what danger that poses, Nurse-a-Dactyl and Mercutio-tops fly to the rescue (“We should have let them be friends!”), and the foursome agree that carnivores and herbivores can be friends (not meals). But this happily-ever-after is marred by a looming final-page meteorite. Indeed, O’Hara sprinkles humorous references throughout that will fly over kids’ heads, though parents will be in stitches: “Juliet Rex was waving her tiny arms in the air like she just didn’t care….” Joyner’s digital illustrations are a hoot. The dinos are dressed in Elizabethan finery (dino color and clothing color separating carnivores and herbivores, in addition to the former’s pointy teeth), and their expressions are sure to evince giggles, most being over-the-top.
Not too shabby for a first taste of the Bard. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Dec. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-265274-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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