Thompson and Taylor offer a second story in their charming series revisiting the beloved Beatrix Potter rabbit characters, following The Further Adventures of Peter Rabbit (2012).
This time the plot focuses on the main dish for Mr. and Mrs. McGregor’s Christmas dinner: not rabbit pie this time but roast turkey. Peter Rabbit and his cousin Benjamin Bunny are friends with William the turkey, “a puffed-up person, full of his own importance.” He struts about the farmyard oblivious to upcoming holiday dinner plans, thinking he will be a guest rather than the entree at the McGregors’ table. Peter and Benjamin try various schemes to hide William from Mr. McGregor and his ominous cleaver, eventually camouflaging their friend on Mrs. McGregor’s hat stand among other feathered bonnets. Thompson’s engaging text is filled with droll humor and old-fashioned but clever turns of phrase that echo Potter’s literary style. Similarly, Taylor’s sweetly comical watercolor illustrations pay homage to the original Peter Rabbit characters without being exact copies, and the large trim differentiates this new series from the tiny classic volumes. Sensitive children might think differently about eating turkey after reading of William’s narrow escape, and purists may wince at recycling Peter and pals, but this amusing story of the conceited turkey and his helpful rabbit friends is a tale well-told. (author’s note, CD of author reading story) (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7232-7694-4
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Warne
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
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
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