A series of delightful disasters presided over by a determined little frog.
Readers meet babysitter Finn the frog in Keres’ picture book.
Finn the frog introduces himself to the reader as a “babysitter extraordinaire.” He initiates a game of peekaboo that ends with a ripped page. Finn gets upset at the reader and makes them cry, so he makes amends to both the torn page and the upset reader with stickers. Next, Finn considers fingerpainting, but thinks better of the potential mess and blows up a balloon instead. “WOW! Look how big it is! Here you go - this ought to keep you occupied for a little while. But remember, don’t put it in your…POP!” Too late. Finn tries blowing bubbles, which goes well until the reader knocks over the container of liquid, further damaging the book. Finally, Finn meets the ultimate challenge: “Code BROWN!” Lin’s cartoon and watercolor illustrations create a clever interplay between Finn and the reader, whose smudge marks, spilled bubble liquid, and exploded balloon fragments are left all over the pages. The unusual blend of second-person narration and fourth-wall breaking is effortless and fun. Finn’s hilarious personality is immensely likeable: He oscillates between self-assured, floundering, eager to please, and exhausted. The book provides an opportunity for adult and child to laugh together about familiar scenarios. Finn’s babysitting debacles will both resonate with the caregivers who juggle the same kinds of minor catastrophes daily and amuse the children who cause them.
A series of delightful disasters presided over by a determined little frog.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781964021010
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Buzzbook Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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