An entertaining trickster tale brought to life by intriguing artwork in an unusual medium.
A mouse outwits a dog and cat and snags a tasty treat.
House dog Tag loves his well-worn “squeaker ball,” a tennis-ball noisemaker with a chewed-out hole in it. He tosses, dribbles, rolls, and squeaks it tirelessly and mourns dramatically when it rolls under the couch. The cat, meanwhile, smirks and bids the plaything “good riddance!” When a mouse slips inside the ball (this is not shown in the artwork, so children must use their inferencing skills) unbeknownst to the other animals, Tag becomes convinced that the squeaker can talk. The mouse convinces Tag to toss him (still concealed inside the toy) onto the kitchen counter and—without blowing his disguise—rewards both the dog and himself with a snack. The cat is suspicious (“I smell a rat”), but the mouse cleverly manages to escape. This underdog (undermouse?) story about a diminutive hero who gets his superiors to literally play ball with his schemes will resonate with young children, who must answer to the grown-ups in their lives. The three-dimensional scrap-art illustrations, rendered using “dug relics” (metal fragments) from the 1800s, capture the characters’ personalities and nuances of body language to a remarkable degree. The engaging backmatter includes facts and discussion prompts related to the metal art that may inspire children to create their own found-object sculptures.
An entertaining trickster tale brought to life by intriguing artwork in an unusual medium. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-68446-426-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Capstone Editions
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2022
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with...
Reynolds and Brown have crafted a Halloween tale that balances a really spooky premise with the hilarity that accompanies any mention of underwear.
Jasper Rabbit needs new underwear. Plain White satisfies him until he spies them: “Creepy underwear! So creepy! So comfy! They were glorious.” The underwear of his dreams is a pair of radioactive-green briefs with a Frankenstein face on the front, the green color standing out all the more due to Brown’s choice to do the entire book in grayscale save for the underwear’s glowing green…and glow they do, as Jasper soon discovers. Despite his “I’m a big rabbit” assertion, that glow creeps him out, so he stuffs them in the hamper and dons Plain White. In the morning, though, he’s wearing green! He goes to increasing lengths to get rid of the glowing menace, but they don’t stay gone. It’s only when Jasper finally admits to himself that maybe he’s not such a big rabbit after all that he thinks of a clever solution to his fear of the dark. Brown’s illustrations keep the backgrounds and details simple so readers focus on Jasper’s every emotion, writ large on his expressive face. And careful observers will note that the underwear’s expression also changes, adding a bit more creep to the tale.
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with Dr. Seuss’ tale of animate, empty pants. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0298-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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