A sweet if inessential affirmation of the pleasures of reading.
Yet another picture-book paean to the pleasure of reading.
Hedgehog, Rabbit, Fox, and Mouse are friends who live together and love stories. Every night they read the same worn-out storybook. Wouldn’t it be nice to find a new book? Off they set, armed against hunger with peanut-butter–and-jelly sandwiches. They soon find one under a bush, but written inside is “This book belongs to: Bear” and a strongly worded warning: “KEEP YOUR PAWS OFF!” Of course, they must return it. When they reach Bear’s house, he’s not at home, but an open window is an implicit invitation to all the animals to slip inside, where they find books everywhere! What follows next will be obvious to adults, but kids will enjoy the fairy-tale echo as Bear bellows, “WHO’S BEEN READING MY BOOKS?!” The interlopers step forward, and soon all the animals realize their mutual love of books makes for a cozy club and a happy ending: “books are wonderful to read alone, but even better when shared.” Even leaving aside the obvious parallel to “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” the simple storyline is not particularly original, very similar to Annie Silvestro and Tatjana Mai-Wyss’ Bunny’s Book Club (2017), among many others. Still, there’s just enough suspense and details for young listeners, and the heavy paper and charming illustrations make it suitable for storytimes.
A sweet if inessential affirmation of the pleasures of reading. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68010-038-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2017
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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