Readers will never look at Groundhog Day in quite the same way again.
A groundhog who wants to be appreciated for more than his meteorological skills decides to go on vacation.
Every year, it’s always the same: “Are there going to be six more weeks of winter?! Is spring around the corner?!” People never ask Groundhog about him. So he packs up and heads to the spa, leaving a letter behind to explain himself. The mayor holds auditions for Groundhog’s position, but no animal can match him: among others, Elephant is too big, the nocturnal animals’ schedules are wrong, and “Ostrich got the whole thing backward.” But the auditions do make the TV news, and Groundhog is pleased to hear that his flair, work ethic, and all-around specialness are appreciated after all. He heads home to wide acclaim and loads of questions about himself. Happy, he gives his February forecast and heads into his hole…where Pearlman shatters Groundhog’s peace with a televised announcement that the Easter Bunny has quit. Helquist uses Groundhog’s perspective to show readers just how he is feeling—the scene after he’s shown himself on Groundhog Day, surrounded by litter and utterly alone, is particularly poignant, though the images of him at the spa, cucumbers on his eyes, and the auditioning animals help balance the mood.
Readers will never look at Groundhog Day in quite the same way again. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-6196-3289-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2015
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
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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