Readers will relate to the bruised feelings, mistaken mix-ups, challenges and ultimate joys of best friendship. Let’s just...
How can two best friends that have a lot in common come to terms with their differences and resolve a huge misunderstanding? Leave it to these canine buddies to show how it is done.
Pale yellow Pug and pastel purple Doug both enjoy munching on day-old doughnuts, dancing to polka music and greeting each other with “a secret pawshake,” but they have unique personalities and preferences. Doug is artistic, imaginative and dramatic. Pug, not so much. In fact, “Doug thought that sometimes Pug could be a real stick-in-the-mud.” But Pug is actually quite loyal, methodical and persistent. When Doug glimpses an unfinished entry in Pug’s journal and misinterprets a few of Pug’s earlier actions, his imagination leads him to believe that Pug does not like him anymore. Pug realizes what has happened and sets out with dogged determination to make things right and successfully plan a birthday surprise. Cartoonist Breen gets the pacing and tone just right. The layout features varied sets of panels along with a few dramatic full-bleed spreads executed in mixed media of watercolor, acrylics and colored pencil. This design enhances the reading experience by turning a gentle, humorous story into a bit of a page turner.
Readers will relate to the bruised feelings, mistaken mix-ups, challenges and ultimate joys of best friendship. Let’s just hope Pug and Doug return for more adventures. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3521-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2012
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
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
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