Fans of the author’s previous monkey titles will welcome this silly new tale, but adults wishing for a safety message...
Christelow’s rambunctious monkeys are decked out in their costumes and ready to play an elaborate trick that may end up jeopardizing any treats they might receive.
Mama makes sure her little ones are ready when Lulu the babysitter arrives to take them out on Halloween night. Their costumes: banana, alien, ghost, goblin and princess. “Don’t lose the rascals!” Mama cautions. All goes well until one monkey decides to switch costumes with a friend. Now that monkey is a blue bunny instead of an alien. The other monkeys think this is “SO funny” and follow suit. Though Lulu notices, like all great babysitters, she does not spoil the fun—at first. But the look in her eye foreshadows a comeuppance for her young charges. Suddenly Lulu announces that it is time for the new banana, ghost, goblin, alien and princess to go. “We have to get home for a big Halloween treat!” Suddenly, the disguised monkeys worry that they are going to miss something special and quickly follow Lulu and their friends to the house. Crafty Lulu and wise Mama soon sort out the confusion, and the mischievous bunch is quickly forgiven as they sample some tricky treats of eyeball cookies and worm juice.
Fans of the author’s previous monkey titles will welcome this silly new tale, but adults wishing for a safety message warning against similar copycat antics will be disappointed. (recipes) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-85893-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
