Cleverly relatable.
A school bus is nervous for his first day of school.
Yellow’s wipers swish anxiously from side to side. Today is the very first time that Yellow will ever transport kids, but he’s not sure if he’s ready. He tries to stall by telling his parents that his tires feel a little low and his oil is a little stale. They reassure him that everything is in working order. But even more worries abound. What if a herd of elephants come charging toward him? What if he gets lost? What if the kids choose another bus over him? “The world can be scary sometimes, but more often it can be wonderful,” his mother reassures him. “What if something really good happens today?” Slowly, by taking one step at a time (starting his engine first), Yellow rolls onto the road, ready for school. There are no eyes perched comically on this protagonist; instead, Yellow’s mood is conveyed through subtle art decisions: wiper placement, a grill that seems to smile, and general stature. Mirroring children’s own first-day worries, Guendelsberger flips the point of view to a familiar back-to-school mainstay. This one will pair very well with Adam Rex’s School’s First Day of School (illustrated by Christian Robinson, 2016). The students are a diverse crowd. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Cleverly relatable. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72825-799-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2022
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
A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound.
The titular cookie runs off the page at a bookstore storytime, pursued by young listeners and literary characters.
Following on 13 previous How To Catch… escapades, Wallace supplies sometimes-tortured doggerel and Elkerton, a set of helter-skelter cartoon scenes. Here the insouciant narrator scampers through aisles, avoiding a series of elaborate snares set by the racially diverse young storytime audience with help from some classic figures: “Alice and her mad-hat friends, / as a gift for my unbirthday, / helped guide me through the walls of shelves— / now I’m bound to find my way.” The literary helpers don’t look like their conventional or Disney counterparts in the illustrations, but all are clearly identified by at least a broad hint or visual cue, like the unnamed “wizard” who swoops in on a broom to knock over a tower labeled “Frogwarts.” Along with playing a bit fast and loose with details (“Perhaps the boy with the magic beans / saved me with his cow…”) the author discards his original’s lip-smacking climax to have the errant snack circling back at last to his book for a comfier sort of happily-ever-after.
A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-0935-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
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