A precious and precocious primate parable sure to please.
Priscilla is not a gorilla, but she sure loves everything about them.
Six-year-old Priscilla has made her dad read All About Gorillas to her a “million skillion times!” When her mom asks why she loves gorillas so much, Priscilla responds, “They always get their way.” Her mother opines that Priscilla gets her way a lot already. But at school, Priscilla’s enthusiasm for simians sometimes gets her sent to the Thinking Corner. When, on picture day, Mr. Todd has the class give reports on their favorite animals while in costume, Priscilla wants to keep her gorilla jammies on for the picture…and ends up out of the picture and in the Thinking Corner. Her classmates follow her lead, though, and soon the Thinking Corner is pretty crowded. Her parents point out some cooperative traits common in gorillas, sparking a change in behavior if not in heart. After Priscilla apologizes to Mr. Todd (sort of), the class trip to the zoo is a gorillastravaganza. Bottner’s tale of ape adoration is sweetly spot-on. Primary schoolchildren will identify with Priscilla, her obsession, and her multiracial classmates. Emberley’s watercolor-and-pencil illustrations telegraph every emotion, from childish exuberance to patient parental love. The four pages of the famous gorilla dance at the close are worth the price of admission. Priscilla and her dad have black hair and light brown skin; her black-haired mom’s skin is a shade pinker.
A precious and precocious primate parable sure to please. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5897-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned.
All the reasons why a daughter needs a mother.
Each spread features an adorable cartoon animal parent-child pair on the recto opposite a rhyming verse: “I’ll always support you in giving your all / in every endeavor, the big and the small, / and be there to catch you in case you should fall. / I hope you believe this is true.” A virtually identical book, Why a Daughter Needs a Dad, publishes simultaneously. Both address standing up for yourself and your values, laughing to ease troubles, being thankful, valuing friendship, persevering and dreaming big, being truthful, thinking through decisions, and being open to differences, among other topics. Though the sentiments/life lessons here and in the companion title are heartfelt and important, there are much better ways to deliver them. These books are likely to go right over children’s heads and developmental levels (especially with the rather advanced vocabulary); their parents are the more likely audience, and for them, the books provide some coaching in what kids need to hear. The two books are largely interchangeable, especially since there are so few references to mom or dad, but one spread in each book reverts to stereotype: Dad balances the two-wheeler, and mom helps with clothing and hair styles. Since the books are separate, it aids in customization for many families.
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned. (Picture book. 4-8, adult)Pub Date: May 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6781-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
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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