A sweet choice for dog lovers, active children or anyone searching for a friend.
This effervescent boy-and-dog tale is worth making some room on the shelf.
The tale begins at the airport, where Eddie dreams of adventure. A white dog emerges from the carrier on the luggage carousel and introduces himself, and the adventures begin. Armed with sticks, boxes and their imaginations, they hunt for crocodiles and sail the seven seas. Eddie’s mother, being a more practical type, decides the dog cannot stay as they don’t have a big yard. Three times she sends the dog away, and three times he returns, riding up on a motor scooter, snorkeling along the shore and parachuting from an airplane. Will they be parted yet again? With warm illustrations, Brown focuses on Eddie and the dog, allowing the frame to chop off Eddie’s mom’s head, like the adults in a Peanuts cartoon. And there lies the crux of the story—the difference between being practical and passionate, between thinking with the head and playing with the heart. Children will see a warm story of a great dog and a red-haired little boy who have found a perfect friendship. Adults, if they listen closely, may see beyond the inconvenient realities of having a creative, active and persistent child. Unexpected adventures have their own unique rewards, like the glow of true happiness on an imaginative boy’s face.
A sweet choice for dog lovers, active children or anyone searching for a friend. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-62370-114-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with...
Reynolds and Brown have crafted a Halloween tale that balances a really spooky premise with the hilarity that accompanies any mention of underwear.
Jasper Rabbit needs new underwear. Plain White satisfies him until he spies them: “Creepy underwear! So creepy! So comfy! They were glorious.” The underwear of his dreams is a pair of radioactive-green briefs with a Frankenstein face on the front, the green color standing out all the more due to Brown’s choice to do the entire book in grayscale save for the underwear’s glowing green…and glow they do, as Jasper soon discovers. Despite his “I’m a big rabbit” assertion, that glow creeps him out, so he stuffs them in the hamper and dons Plain White. In the morning, though, he’s wearing green! He goes to increasing lengths to get rid of the glowing menace, but they don’t stay gone. It’s only when Jasper finally admits to himself that maybe he’s not such a big rabbit after all that he thinks of a clever solution to his fear of the dark. Brown’s illustrations keep the backgrounds and details simple so readers focus on Jasper’s every emotion, writ large on his expressive face. And careful observers will note that the underwear’s expression also changes, adding a bit more creep to the tale.
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with Dr. Seuss’ tale of animate, empty pants. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0298-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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