Accepting what can’t be changed is a lesson everyone has to learn, even big, boisterous dogs (and presumably young readers,...
A huge, tan dog named Simon learns to share his new dog bed with the family cat.
From the very first page of the book, even prior to the title page, Simon considers his big, red bed a perfect present. But when the dog returns from a walk, he finds his bed has been taken over by the family’s sly Siamese cat, Miss Adora Belle. Simon tries several methods to evict the cat, including polite requests, howling, barking, and dragging the bed through the house and yard. He even tries to dislodge Adora Belle by perching on her special purple pillow. Simon finally decides to share his bed with the cat, concluding that “sometimes… / you have to pick your battles.” That expression may need explanation for younger readers, along with Simon’s habit of “rehydrating” by drinking out of the toilet. The story is quietly humorous as it tracks Simon’s tenacious attempts to solve his problem, but his capitulation to the cat’s stoic territorial occupation falls a little flat, as readers have no idea what other battles the dog and cat may have encountered. Digitally rendered illustrations in a moody palette of grays and blues are set off by the bright red bed, and the dog’s increasing frustration is conveyed by his sad face and sagging posture. Miss Adora Belle is sneaky rather than adorable, although both animals seem contented with their shared nap on the final pages.
Accepting what can’t be changed is a lesson everyone has to learn, even big, boisterous dogs (and presumably young readers, as well). (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4814-3019-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
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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