A provocative model of amity.
An affectionate farm cat and a lovable farm dog are the best of friends as youngsters, but as they grow up, they also grow apart.
An affable Chinese farmer narrates the tale. His neighbor gives the narrator and his wife a puppy named Min. Min is friendly with everyone. Rats overrun the farmhouse, so they buy a little cat, named Mu, to deal with that problem. The neighbor opines that Mu and Min can’t possibly get along, but they do, playing hide-and-seek together in the yard and sleeping wrapped around each other. As they grow up, however, they drift into a surly standoff. For a long time, the two always fight, but then something happens that changes everything: while chasing a mouse, Mu falls into a water tank and can’t get out. Min runs for help, and the farmer’s able to save the cat from drowning. From then on, Min and Mu give each other a respectfully wide berth. Now they can learn once again to be friends, the farmer muses. Shen Shixi’s subtle message, presented with a light touch, may elude younger readers, as the resolution does not look like what most kids understand as friendship, but it will leave them thinking about détente. Shen Yuanyuan’s illustrations are offbeat and attractive, featuring solid human figures and plenty of compositional motion and humor.
A provocative model of amity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-76036-034-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Starfish Bay
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
Kids will enjoy the opportunity to “mews” on the doings of a presidential pet.
First Lady Biden and Capucilli, author of the Biscuit series, explain how Willow the cat came to reside at the White House.
Willow lives contentedly in a barn. One day, she’s curious when cars approach and people gather to hear a blond woman speak. Willow draws closer, then is delighted as the woman lifts her up and hugs her. That evening, light-skinned Farmer Rick tells Willow she made “quite an impression”: The visitor has invited Willow to live with her. A car arrives to drive Willow away to the White House, her new home in Washington, D.C. There, she’s welcomed by the first lady—the same woman who tenderly held her at the farm. Willow meets the president and explores her new home, filled with elegantly furnished rooms, grand staircases, and historic portraits. Plus, there’s a toy-filled basket! Best of all, there are wonderful people who work in and visit this beautiful house who show Willow kindness and affection. Willow’s favorite resting spot is at the president’s side in the Oval Office, though she also enjoys watching the first lady read to children on the lawn. Animal lovers will especially appreciate this sweet, cat’s-eye view of the White House, which helps humanize the first family by depicting them as ordinary feline fanciers. The loose ink, acrylic, and paint illustrations are cheerful and cozy. Background characters are racially diverse.
Kids will enjoy the opportunity to “mews” on the doings of a presidential pet. (author’s note from Biden, photos) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 4, 2024
ISBN: 9781665952057
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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
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