A clever, winning read-aloud for modern families.
A couple moves in together. But can their pets handle the big change?
A scruffy white dog lives alone with her human father. She loves her toys, her royal dog bed, and lying at her dad’s feet at night. Elsewhere, a large houndlike dog and an orange tabby live together with their mother. The dog loves playing. The cat doesn’t seem to love anything—except, perhaps, sleeping in the dog’s bed. A moving van unites the two families under one roof, forcing the new pet stepsiblings to get to know one another. Faces are swatted. Clothing is eaten. Things just aren’t as comfy as they used to be. Gradually, the pets start to warm up to one another—that is, until the family adds yet another member to the mix. Buchet’s debut picture book primarily uses the two titular nouns—cat and dog—in various patterns (“Dog Cat” or “Dog Cat Dog”). The minimalist text relies on Zuill’s expressive, funny cartoon illustrations to fill in necessary context. The words and pictures harmonize as pace, rhythm, and layout work together to clearly depict poignant moments of isolation, tension, and togetherness. New words added into the rhythm, such as “Frog” when the animals stare down an amphibian, create laugh-out-loud silliness. The humans, one white-presenting and the other brown-skinned, diversify this beautiful, blended family.
A clever, winning read-aloud for modern families. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-4899-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
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
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