Noodles, shakes, whatever you call them: Worries aren’t fun, but they don’t have to interfere with life either.
A young ostrich copes with anxiety.
Opal Feather’s long neck feels “as wobbly as a spaghetti noodle” whenever she becomes anxious. Her family refers to that feeling as “The Noodles” and tries to help her by offering her empowering compliments, cuddles, and jokes, but these don’t calm Opal. Today is her family’s annual soiree, one of Opal’s favorite days, and she’s tasked with picking up the special tart. She performs the self-calming ritual she relies on before doing something new and scary—e.g., going to the bakery. On the way, she misconstrues the actions of various pals she encounters. Opal repeatedly frets they’re all mad at her (though they each quickly explain that they aren’t). By the time Opal reaches the bakery, her anxiety has exhausted her. However, everyone is proud Opal accomplished her goal. Even better, Opal’s proud of herself, recognizing she faced challenges. This is a comforting story about a problem many kids deal with; it reassures them that worries aren’t unusual and don’t have to feel overwhelming. The authors leave readers with the realistic yet optimistic view that anxiety doesn’t disappear altogether but can be confronted through one’s own positive outlook and support from family and friends. Colorful, cartoony digital illustrations are lively and endearing; note the enjoyable seek-and-find opportunity at the end. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Noodles, shakes, whatever you call them: Worries aren’t fun, but they don’t have to interfere with life either. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780593615669
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Rocky Pond Books/Penguin
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
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
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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