Just like a sunny day, this book will leave its readers with warm feelings.
Two playful pups and their cat companion step outside for a fun-filled romp.
Poor Pepper, Boo, and the Cat—they’ve been trapped inside for five rainy days. But it’s sunny at last! And there’s a giant box wrapped in polka-dot paper with a big purple bow. Twelve paws are ready to celebrate, but readers learn that what sparks joy for each critter is very different. The Cat is excited for a sunny day outside. Pepper and Boo know they could celebrate a day without the Cat by staying indoors, playing with toys, running through the halls, and enjoying their treats without interruption, but they want to enjoy the great outdoors, too. Celebrating outside for the Cat means climbing trees. For Boo, it means rolling in the wet grass, while Pepper prefers sitting on the warm bricks. All the pets have a small, controlled scare: The Cat loses their grip on the tree but catches the branch with their strong claws; a game of hide-and-seek is a little too scary for Pepper. The day is capped off with a perfectly cozy surprise when everyone comes back inside and the present has been opened—it’s a gift they can all share, just as they’ve shared this most special day. With minimal text and many visual jokes throughout, this charming series addition touches on responsible decision-making and relationship skills for evolving readers.
Just like a sunny day, this book will leave its readers with warm feelings. (Graphic early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: Feb. 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5509-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2022
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
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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