A seriously funny and delightfully nonlethal outing.
What can Fluffy do? Her cuteness is lethal!
“Fluffy McWhiskers [is] so cute that if you saw her… / you’d explode.” A lion, two snakes, an elephant, a koala all gaze upon her and…Kaboom! Because of this, she’s quite sad and lonely and determines to make herself less cute. She makes herself an ugly sweater. She gives herself a bad haircut. She even puts a scary bag on her head…“but that was ridiculously cute!” (Her goldfish explodes.) When the newspaper publishes her photo, animals everywhere explode; she hops a rocket to outer space—the aliens in a passing UFO explode. Next, she moves to a remote tropical island. No one explodes, but pizza delivery takes forever, and tummy scratches are nearly impossible. She makes some fruit friends…but then she gets hungry. One day she hears a bark, and she can’t find a place to hide—but when she’s face to face with a so-ugly-it’s-cute pug, the dog doesn’t explode! Moreover, the pug is confused that Fluffy doesn’t explode. They’re the perfect match…but passing cruise ships should beware! Martin’s foolish tale of a killer cutie-pie cat will have readers old and young exploding with laughter with its deadpan humor. Newcomer Tavis’ artwork with its rainbow clouds of exploding animals, all killed by cuteness overload, will multiply the laughs exponentially. Fluffy really is cute, resembling a purple powder puff with enormous eyes more than a cat. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A seriously funny and delightfully nonlethal outing. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-4145-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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
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