The initial rural setting and avian protagonist may be unfamiliar to some readers, but the author/artist’s admiration for...
Gorgeous artwork and an unusual subject will likely boost the appeal of this (literal and figurative) flight of fancy.
After starting with a single-page, sun-warmed portrait of a Tucson young boy, Jessell’s realistic paintings stretch across a series of two-page spreads to offer stunning vistas. Speaking in the first person, the boy describes how he would fly, what he might see and how other animals would respond, “If I were a falcon…” Close-ups show the falcon’s sharp gaze, strong wings and fierce beak, all attributes alluded to in the brief, lyrical text. Shifts in perspective provide visual interest and amplify the impact of the prose, as when a blue jay and starling, viewed from below, peer warily up at the falcon flying high overhead. Cliffs, mountains, ocean waves and city skyscrapers loom large, and for the most part realism prevails, though there is just a touch of anthropomorphism (and humor) when the falcon dive-bombs startled pedestrians. The story then comes full circle, back to the boy, this time depicted running across the field, mimicking the falcon’s flight and wishing “Oh, if only I were a falcon…”
The initial rural setting and avian protagonist may be unfamiliar to some readers, but the author/artist’s admiration for the beauty of the natural world and the fascination of imagining another life shine through clearly. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 27, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-375-86866-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 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
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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