This offbeat pictorial adventure won't be to all tastes, but it should prompt storytelling fun for both adults and children.
A scene of pastoral calm and beauty spins out into chaos.
The story is told entirely in pictures, 12 busy two-page spreads. Many things are happening on a wide stretch of bright green grass, with the edge of a forest in the background. A mother squirrel and her young son walk down a grassless path, two rats sunbathe side by side, a mother rabbit lays out a picnic for a variety of small animals. (All the animal characters wear clothing and walk on two feet.) In the background are four small houses. The third shows a mishap, with a dog in a striped shirt outside working hard at making a cake. His efforts are continually disrupted, first by an errant soccer ball and then by another dog, clad in dress and apron, chasing a fly. As the pages turn, the activity continues and accelerates. The pigs who live in the second house do some painting on a ladder; three monkeys perch on the roof of the first house; a fox and rabbit dig a deep hole near the path. Activity turns to bedlam, with a raccoon tracking paint into the fourth house and the ladder toppling over and almost everyone rushing into the woods. What exactly is happening? Much is left for the reader's imagination to fill in.
This offbeat pictorial adventure won't be to all tastes, but it should prompt storytelling fun for both adults and children. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-8775-7910-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Gecko Press
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
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
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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