A fantastically fun tale; little ones longing for their own dogs will come away even more eager for a four-legged friend.
A day in the life of a very busy pooch.
A fluffy white dog named Topanga starts the day at 6:30 a.m. First, Topanga awakens the rest of the household: parents “Big Guy” and “Lady,” children “Ponytail,” “Moptop,” and “Freckles,” and brand-new baby “Poop-and-Cry.” Topanga helps out all day long, finding Ponytail’s tights, keeping Poop-and-Cry occupied while Lady works on her computer and Big Guy does laundry, and alerting Lady to a kitchen fire. Later, Topanga saves Freckles from the neighbor bully dog Buster and lends a sympathetic ear when Moptop describes a bad day at school. When the family erupts into a series of arguments, Topanga knocks over the flour in the kitchen, distracting everyone from their various crises. The day comes to a close as Topanga entertains Poop-and-Cry, who says her first word: Topanga! Scillian and Bowers add another winning volume to their successful Memoirs series. Scillian’s text, narrated by Topanga, perfectly captures a dog’s perspective. Topanga is a mix of exuberance, self-confidence, and patience—everything readers young and old love about dogs. Though Topanga’s a crucial part of this family, the humans are often oblivious to the ways in which their pet saves the day; readers will giggle knowingly. Bowers’ energetic cartoon illustrations ramp up the humor. The family is light-skinned.
A fantastically fun tale; little ones longing for their own dogs will come away even more eager for a four-legged friend. (Picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781534112995
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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