A beautiful, bighearted adventure, offering delight where it’s needed most.
Denniston’s debut picture book follows a patriotic rat looking for ways to help out around a U.S. military base.
“Maggie P. Worthington was no ordinary rat. Maggie was a patriotic rat. A salute-the-flag rat. A military rat.” So begins the tale of an earnest American rat who proves too small to enlist, too ratty to work in the kitchen, and too small to write letters to soldiers on duty. But she’s just perfect for befriending Grace (who has light-colored skin and brown hair), the lonely daughter of an active serviceman. Denniston delivers a sweet story with just the right amount of repetition (“I’m no ordinary rat”) and variation (“I’m a ready-for-duty / serve-my-country / shake-and-bake / shoulder-to-cry-on rat”) to foreshadow and then make poignant the meeting of “military rat” and “military brat.” Murray deploys playful watercolor illustrations to capture Maggie’s determined and forlorn expressions, as well as her plucky, pintsized positioning in the world (the image of Maggie marching alongside the soldiers’ boots is particularly striking). Through the use of beige backgrounds, blank spaces, and blue tones, Murray conveys the sparseness of military life and a sense both of loneliness and futility. There’s also color, signaling hope, in Maggie’s ears, feet, and tail, as well as in Grace’s pants and the flag. Young readers will take Maggie to heart and march proudly alongside her.
A beautiful, bighearted adventure, offering delight where it’s needed most.Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2023
ISBN: 9798988426417
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Penny Wishes Press
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
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BOOK REVIEW
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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BOOK REVIEW
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