A realistic slapstick tribute to the differences between cats and dogs.
One cat and two dogs are faced with a rainy day.
“Twelve paws like to play outside.” But whom do they belong to? Book 2 in the series reintroduces Pepper and Boo, both dogs, who share a total of eight paws. The last four belong to Cat. On a rainy day, both Cat and Pepper would rather stay indoors (though Cat assures readers it’s not from fear of water). And even after Boo lists all the outdoor fun that can be had in the rain, Pepper wants to stay indoors since their thin fur is not warm enough. That’s when Boo gets busy searching for a “fun coat.” One is so tight Pepper can’t move, and another is so hilariously big Boo can’t tell which end of Pepper is which. When at last they find the perfect coat (after Cat reminds readers that “cat fur is perfect”), the dogs discover the rain has stopped and Pepper’s perfect coat is now too warm for a sunny day. With illustrations that show an explosive splash and equally explosive Cat “YEOWR!” the eminently doggy solution to this new problem creates “puddle trouble” for Cat. With a keen sense of pet psychology, Harper presents the two dogs interacting mostly with each other via speech balloons and Cat addressing readers directly with an extremely opinionated and funny monologue. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A realistic slapstick tribute to the differences between cats and dogs. (Graphic early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5508-2
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts.
Can knightly deeds bring together a feathered odd couple who are on opposite daily schedules?
Having won over a dragon (and millions of fans) in the Caldecott Honor–winning Knight Owl (2022), the fierce yet impossibly cute nocturnal, armor-clad owlet faces a new challenge—sleep deprivation—in the wake of taking on Early Bird, a trainee who rises with the sun and chatters interminably: “I made pancakes! Do you like pancakes? I love pancakes! Where’s the syrup?” It’s enough to test the patience of even the knightliest of owls, and eventually Knight Owl explodes in anger. But although Early Bird is even smaller than her mentor, she turns out to be just as determined to achieve knighthood. After he tells her to leave, she acquits herself so nobly in a climactic encounter with a pack of wolves that she earns a place at the castle. Denise proves a dab hand at depicting genuinely slinky, scary wolves as well as slipping cheerfully anachronistic newspapers and other sight gags into his realistically wrought medieval settings to underscore the tale’s tongue-in-cheek tone. Better yet, a final view of the doughty duo sitting down together to a lavish pancake breakfast/dinner at dusk ends the episode in a sweet rush of syrup and bonhomie.
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9780316564526
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
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