A real tail wagger.
A new dog in town has trouble making friends.
The pooch introduces himself with a message sprayed in urine on a brick wall: “Hello I am Toby.” Unfortunately, other olfactory messages—translated into signage readable by humans in watercolor, pencil, and ink illustrations reminiscent of Shirley Hughes’ work in their luminosity and brushwork—drown out the greeting. Worse yet, a further friendly smellogram on the sidewalk is so garbled by rain, garbage collectors, and the feet of passersby that Toby’s four-footed neighbors mistake him for a mean dog. What’s a lonely mutt to do? Dog lovers will delight in the canine rushes of various Fidos cavorting energetically across the urban scenes and endpapers (human figures remain hazy and peripheral, though seemingly racially diverse) and yelp with pleasure at Toby’s distinctly doggy solution to his dilemma. Confronted in the park by a tense, hostile pack, he approaches slowly and then suddenly drops his front end in classic “DO YOU WANT TO…CHASE ME?” posture. The canines respond with a howling chorus of “YES!” and the ice is instantly broken in a wild, gleeful rumpus. Heder may take a bit of artistic license in depicting over a dozen dogs unleashed in an apparently unfenced urban park setting, but young readers who’ve found themselves in a situation like Toby’s will take comfort in the cathartic close. The messages that the dogs convey in urine are hilariously apt: “Suki’s stick,” “Don’t trust the squirrels,” and “Anyone for a howl?”
A real tail wagger. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9781419757518
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind.
The cool beans again step up to do a timorous fellow legume a fava…this time at the pool.
Will a rash decision to tackle the multistory super-slide lead to another embarrassing watery fail for our shy protagonist? Nope, for up the stairs right behind comes a trio of cool beans, each a different type and color, all clad in nothing but dark shades. They make an offer: “It’s not as scary if you go with friends!” As the knobby nerd explains once the thrilling ride down is done, “They all realized that I just needed some encouragement and support.” Just to make sure that both cool and uncool readers get the message, the narrator lets us know that “there are plenty of kind folks who have my back. They’re always there when I need them.” The beany bonhomie doesn’t end at the bottom of the slide, with all gliding down to the shallow end of the pool (“3 INCHES. NO DIVING”) for a splashy finale. This latest early reader starring characters from John and Oswald’s immensely popular Food Group series will be a hit with fans. Fun accessories, such as a bean who rocks pink cat-eye frames, add some pizzazz to the chromatically and somatotypically varied cast.
Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind. (Easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780063329560
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child...
Imani endures the insults heaped upon her by the other village children, but she never gives up her dreams.
The Masai girl is tiny compared to the other children, but she is full of imagination and perseverance. Luckily, she has a mother who believes in her and tells her stories that will fuel that imagination. Mama tells her about the moon goddess, Olapa, who wins over the sun god. She tells Imani about Anansi, the trickster spider who vanquishes a larger snake. (Troublingly, the fact that Anansi is a West African figure, not of the Masai, goes unaddressed in both text and author’s note.) Inspired, the tiny girl tries to find new ways to achieve her dream: to touch the moon. One day, after crashing to the ground yet again when her leafy wings fail, she is ready to forget her hopes. That night, she witnesses the adumu, the special warriors’ jumping dance. Imani wakes the next morning, determined to jump to the moon. After jumping all day, she reaches the moon, meets Olapa and receives a special present from the goddess, a small moon rock. Now she becomes the storyteller when she relates her adventure to Mama. The watercolor-and-graphite illustrations have been enhanced digitally, and the night scenes of storytelling and fantasy with their glowing stars and moons have a more powerful impact than the daytime scenes, with their blander colors.
While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child to be admired. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-934133-57-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Mackinac Island Press
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014
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