Animals so familiar and often so beloved to children start and end their conversation in bewilderment, which may lead to the...
An interspecies encounter confuses two four-legged creatures.
Dog meets Horse and extols dogginess. Horse, in return, applauds horsiness. Dog likes to play fetch with a ball, while Horse loves to groom its mane. Neither can grasp that the other is a member of a different species. Horse expresses confusion at Dog’s small stature, and Dog, in turn, cannot understand how Horse can be so tall. They butt heads in their shared state of confusion, sure to increase exponentially when, on the final two pages, Bird flies into the picture. Kalan tells his little tale entirely in speech bubbles, with uppercase type used to express the animals’ raised voices. Miller’s illustrations are executed in pen and ink and “digital hocus-pocus.” They portray critters with sharp angles and exaggerated heads against a green lower background (for grass) and a blue upper background (for sky). Horse is gray and Dog is yellow; both are outlined in black with very big eyes. Some humorous moments grace the story, as when Horse tries to feed “Tiny Baby” Dog with a hay-filled bottle and gifts him with a size-appropriate saddle. However, an ending with mutual understanding and a blossoming friendship is absent.
Animals so familiar and often so beloved to children start and end their conversation in bewilderment, which may lead to the same feeling among listeners. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-279110-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Children who love dogs will find this amusing the first time through, but the humor palls quickly.
In rhyming text, a bug-eyed pug named Pig stubbornly refuses to share with the almost equally bug-eyed Trevor, the “wiener dog” he lives with—and soon gets his comeuppance.
The book begins showing the eponymous dog astride a large, red bowl of dog food, tongue hanging out and all four paws gripping the bowl. It perfectly matches the text: “Pig was a Pug / and I’m sorry to say, / he was greedy and selfish / in most every way.” A bit of humor comes through when the text plays on the adage about pigs by reminding readers that “pugs cannot fly.” However, most of the text is composed of trite, tired rhymes. The ending is a punch line whose funny picture will have little ones giggling. However, the ultimate “lesson” is a rather dark cynicism, more appropriate to children older than the age suggested by the rhymes, the art, and even the publisher. There may be some vicarious thrills for those who have witnessed excessive selfishness. The artwork is humorous, although Pig’s appearance is sometimes more grotesque than funny—particularly when he shouts at Trevor. Both male dogs’ facial expressions and body language add to the humor, and dog lovers will appreciate Pig’s array of colorful toys. Scansion is spotty, which should not happen in verses so dependent on rhythm and rhyme to entertain their young audience.
Children who love dogs will find this amusing the first time through, but the humor palls quickly. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Dec. 27, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-338-11245-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A funny tale about stress and an ever upping ante, with a comforting end.
Something is preventing Owl from falling asleep.
Owl leans back against his white pillow and headboard. “Squeek!” says something underneath the bed. Owl’s never heard that sound before, so he fastens his pink bathrobe and answers the front door. Nobody. It must be the wind; back to bed. Bidding himself goodnight, he climbs into bed—and hears the noise again. Time after time, he pops out of bed seeking the squeaker. Is it in the cupboard? He empties the shelves. Under the floor? He pulls up his floorboards. As Owl’s actions ratchet up—he destroys the roof and smashes the walls, all in search of the squeak—so does his anxiety. Not until he hunkers down in bed under the night sky (his bed is now outdoors, because the house’s roof and walls are gone), frantically clutching his pillow, does he see what readers have seen all along: a small, gray mouse. In simple illustrations with black outlines, textured coloring, and foreshortened perspective, Pizzoli plays mischievously with mouse placement. Sometimes the mouse is behind Owl or just out of his sightline; other times, the mouse is on a solid, orange-colored page across the spread from Owl, which removes him from Owl’s scene in a rather postmodern manner. Is the mouse toying with Owl? Who knows?
A funny tale about stress and an ever upping ante, with a comforting end. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4847-1275-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
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