Attitude makes all the difference in this amusing, cheery, weather-driven tale.
A rabbit turns a rainy day into a play day.
A rabbit finds a pine cone and invites woodland pals to play toss, but when one of them warns, “It’s going to RAIN,” the rabbit’s playmates scatter, leaving their friend behind to announce, “I like rain.” Wondering “What’s wrong with rain,” the rabbit watches drops drip. As the drip, drip increases, the bunny, too, adopts an anti-rain attitude and takes shelter. Flopping about inside, the bored rabbit spies a bird exuberantly splashing outside in a puddle. Donning rain gear, the rabbit heads out to join the bird. Reaffirming, “I like rain,” the rabbit invites the others to return for rain play. The minimalist, hand-lettered text relies on repetition of the onomatopoeic words “drip,” “drop,” “splish,” and “splash” to convey weather-related mood swings. Hilariously, Dillard evokes the pouring rain with vertical repetitions of “d r i p” covering the page. Simple, gently humorous illustrations focus on the rabbit playing outdoors, initially sporting a red-and-white–striped T-shirt and later protected by spiffy red galoshes, raincoat, and hat. The rabbit’s metamorphosis from rain lover to rain hater and back to rain lover spins out visually in a mix of close-up and aerial views against uncluttered forest backgrounds. Sprightly closing scenes of anthropomorphic critters cavorting in their colorful rain gear end playtime on a high note.
Attitude makes all the difference in this amusing, cheery, weather-driven tale. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5344-0678-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2019
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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