An informative and entertaining tale of an intriguing location and a warm family relationship.
In this Canadian import, a girl spends the summer with her grandmother on an island in the Pacific Northwest.
The evocative story is told from the first-person point of view of the unnamed girl, who appears to be 10 or 11. She spends each summer with Gran at her cozy log cabin on an island in the Salish Sea, which is the collective name of the waterways of coastal British Columbia and Washington state. Lovely, atmospheric watercolor illustrations show the girl and her grandmother spending idyllic weeks together exploring the beach, gardening, fishing, and cooking. The child visits their neighbor, Joe, who is carving an eagle on a cedar totem pole. He tells the girl stories and speaks about eagles, explaining that you must earn an eagle feather in order to keep one. In both the U.S. and Canada, ownership of eagle feathers is legal only for Indigenous people, opening the door for readers to see Joe and possibly the girl and her grandmother as Canadian First Nations people. The girl and her grandmother have golden-tan skin and brown hair; Joe has reddish-tan skin and graying black hair. The story unfolds with a calm, peaceful tone, indicating the secure relationship between granddaughter and grandmother and the reassuring certainty of annual traditions in a protected environment. Several terms in the text are not well defined, such as jigging for fish, “midden,” and “petroglyph.” A glossary and map and a clear indication of whether or not the characters are Indigenous people would have improved the accessibility of the story.
An informative and entertaining tale of an intriguing location and a warm family relationship. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4598-1345-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
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
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader!
Fun with friends makes for a great day.
Norbit, a salmon-colored worm with a pink kerchief, joyfully greets the day and everyone he encounters. “Hello, friends! It’s time for fun with the sun! Let’s play!” He and his menagerie of forest pals—including the sun, who grows limbs and descends from the sky—exuberantly engage in various forms of physical activity such as jumping, going down a slide, spinning around, and watching the clouds go by. Young readers will readily relate, as these are games that most children are familiar with. As day turns to night, Norbit says farewell to Sun and welcomes Moon with an invitation to continue the fun. Watkins has created a vivid world of movement and merriment. Her illustrations feature bright bursts of color that match the energy of the text, with most sentences ending in an exclamation point. The author/illustrator incorporates many elements that make for an ideal early-reading experience (despite the use of a contraction or two): art free from clutter, text consisting of words with only one or two syllables, and repetition and recurring bits, such as a continued game of hide-and-seek with Sun. Inspired by never-before-seen sketches from the Dr. Seuss Collection archives at the University of California San Diego, this is the first title for Seuss Studios, a new imprint for original stories from “emerging authors and illustrators” who “honor Seuss’s hallmark spirit of creativity and imagination.”
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader! (author's note) (Early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780593646212
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Seuss Studios
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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