Wish-fulfillment for Florence may ring false for readers.
Girl finds dog, girl loses dog, and girl gets dog again in this picture book from the Netherlands.
Florence, a dark-haired, apple-cheeked white girl, wants a dog, but her parents are not on board with her plan. Undeterred, she decides to look for a stray to take in, and when she happens upon a scruffy brown dog “it’s LOVE at first sight.” The tag on the dog's collar reads "Mocha," and she sneaks it into her home. She also sneaks some food to it, which her parents don’t notice. Her mother does notice muddy paw prints and a big mess in the laundry room, however, and this leads to her discovery of Mocha in Florence’s bedroom. Although they are displeased, her parents let Florence keep Mocha while they search for its owner. But Florence launches a campaign to subvert their efforts by changing the phone number and drawing mustaches and such on the “found dog” posters they put up around town. When the owner does appear, Florence is bereft, but in an unlikely turn of events, he ends up letting Mocha stay with her as long as she promises they’ll visit, and her parents approve. The improbability of the storyline makes it a dubious choice, but van Lindenhuizen’s charming, naïve-style illustrations add great appeal.
Wish-fulfillment for Florence may ring false for readers. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-60537-294-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clavis
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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