A positively super lesson in persistence.
Pickle the pooch perseveres with pals.
Pickle’s a huge fan of the TV show Superdog, and after watching the latest episode, in which the superheroic protagonist roller-skates to the rescue of a falling child, Pickle becomes a skating fanatic. Grandma sends Pickle a present: skates and a helmet! “I can be like Superdog now!” Pickle says. But after taking a few tumbles, Pickle’s ready to put away the skates. Coco, a spotted rabbit, appears on skates and offers to help Pickle practice; the two take things slow, skating while holding hands. Another spill tears a hole in Pickle’s pants, but Coco offers some reassuring words and a bandage, and they keep at it. Later, Pickle assumes the role of teacher and rallies a similarly discouraged roller skater, Felix the bird. Felix compares Pickle to Superdog, making it clear that kind gestures and encouragement are the hallmarks of a true hero. By the end of the story, Pickle, Coco, and Felix are all skating together, three links in a chain of friendship. The repeated emphasis on process over results conveys a lovely lesson that never becomes preachy. Kantorovitz’s spare, muted artwork is enchanting in its simplicity, depicting the pains of failing at a new hobby and the joys of finally triumphing; she also displays a keen eye for precious details such as Pickle’s handwritten thank-you letter to Grandma and knee patches on the protagonist’s now-mended trousers.
A positively super lesson in persistence. (Graphic early reader. 4-8)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780823460304
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: yesterday
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
Fast and furious action guaranteed to keep new readers laughing and turning pages.
Never underestimate the chaotic fun that magic and an angry bouncing ball can create.
When Frog goes to the library, he borrows a book on magic. He then heads to a nearby park to read up on the skills necessary to becoming “a great magician.” Suddenly, a deflated yellow ball lands with a “Thud!” at his feet. Although he flexes his new magician muscles, Frog’s spells fall as flat as the ball. But when Frog shouts “Phooey!” and kicks the ball away, it inflates to become a big, angry ball. The ball begins to chase Frog, so he seeks shelter in the library—and Frog and ball turn the library’s usual calm into chaos. The cartoon chase crescendos. The ball bounces into the middle of a game of chess, interrupts a puppet show, and crashes into walls and bookcases. Staying just one bounce ahead, Frog runs, hides, grabs a ride on a book cart, and scatters books and papers as he slides across the library furniture before an alligator patron catches the ball and kicks it out the library door. But that’s not the end of the ball….Caple’s tidy panels and pastel-hued cartoons make a surprisingly effective setting for the slapstick, which should have young readers giggling. Simple sentences—often just subject and verb—with lots of repetition propel the action. Frog’s nonsense-word spells (“Poof Wiffle, Bop Bip!”) are both funny and excellent practice in phonetics. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Fast and furious action guaranteed to keep new readers laughing and turning pages. (Graphic early reader. 5-7)Pub Date: Aug. 10, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4341-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
A visual and emotional symphony.
A tiger, with some unusual help, fights off a nightmare.
Tiger’s parents don’t quite believe that the reason she carries extra curry or tacos from the supper table to her bedroom is because she has a monster under her bed, but it’s true. Monster was supposed to scare her long ago, but instead they play together nightly. Then, while Tiger sleeps, Monster scares away Tiger’s horned, multieyed, centipedelike nightmares—until a nightmare with a long-jawed white skull and a changeable, smoky body arrives. It conquers Monster and reaches Tiger. From now on, Tiger and Monster must work together. The plans they implement are brilliant and brave, and their hard-won victory (it takes a few tries) couldn’t be more triumphant, relieving, or empowering. Compositions range from full-bleed spreads to pages holding multiple sequential panels. Using watercolors and pencils, Tetri creates one color-world of inky blues (Monster; nighttime) and another of oranges and yellows (Tiger; daytime). The meanings of each color-world hold nuance and complexity: The nightmares are of the blue world, but so are coziness and small, dear Monster; Tiger’s victory explodes with warm colors like dawn, but she could only achieve it at night. Rich details enhance the setting inconspicuously: Tiger’s parents, also tigers, run a repair shop for flying cars; one parent is Dad while the other is of undesignated gender.
A visual and emotional symphony. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-62672-535-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2018
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