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
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A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends
Gerald the elephant learns a truth familiar to every preschooler—heck, every human: “Waiting is not easy!”
When Piggie cartwheels up to Gerald announcing that she has a surprise for him, Gerald is less than pleased to learn that the “surprise is a surprise.” Gerald pumps Piggie for information (it’s big, it’s pretty, and they can share it), but Piggie holds fast on this basic principle: Gerald will have to wait. Gerald lets out an almighty “GROAN!” Variations on this basic exchange occur throughout the day; Gerald pleads, Piggie insists they must wait; Gerald groans. As the day turns to twilight (signaled by the backgrounds that darken from mauve to gray to charcoal), Gerald gets grumpy. “WE HAVE WASTED THE WHOLE DAY!…And for WHAT!?” Piggie then gestures up to the Milky Way, which an awed Gerald acknowledges “was worth the wait.” Willems relies even more than usual on the slightest of changes in posture, layout and typography, as two waiting figures can’t help but be pretty static. At one point, Piggie assumes the lotus position, infuriating Gerald. Most amusingly, Gerald’s elephantine groans assume weighty physicality in spread-filling speech bubbles that knock Piggie to the ground. And the spectacular, photo-collaged images of the Milky Way that dwarf the two friends makes it clear that it was indeed worth the wait.
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends . (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-9957-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
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