Another surefire hit in this winsome series.
Earl and Worm return—hooray!
Once again, odd-couple Earl (a bird) and his neighbor Worm (who’s the same size as Earl and thus definitely not his prey) pair up in a trio of stories that are just right for new readers. First, neatnik Worm helps clutter-bug Earl get rid of some items he no longer needs—and ends up acquiring many of those things for herself. The second tale sees the usually affable Earl despairing after a lucky penny he finds seems to bring him bad luck instead of good, until Worm makes everything better. In the final story, Earl goes along with Worm’s determined effort to stay up all night to watch the sunrise. Each entry displays thoughtful timing that ramps up the humor—for instance, a comical denouement to “The Lucky Penny” shows bad luck befalling Worm after she resolves Earl’s woes. Throughout, Pizzoli’s expertise in marrying words and cartoon-style pictures will support new readers’ decoding skills while enhancing the storytelling, such as when Earl’s stuff spills over the book’s gutter onto Worm’s otherwise-tidy side. Pizzoli’s line drawings are simple yet expressive; Worm’s grumpy looks are especially delightful to behold.
Another surefire hit in this winsome series. (Early reader. 5-7)Pub Date: July 8, 2025
ISBN: 9780593649701
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
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
A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor
Having surveyed worms, spiders, flies, and head lice, Gravel continues her Disgusting Critters series with a quick hop through toad fact and fancy.
The facts are briefly presented in a hand-lettered–style typeface frequently interrupted by visually emphatic interjections (“TOXIN,” “PREY,” “EWWW!”). These are, as usual, paired to simply drawn cartoons with comments and punch lines in dialogue balloons. After casting glances at the common South American ancestor of frogs and toads, and at such exotic species as the Emei mustache toad (“Hey ladies!”), Gravel focuses on the common toad, Bufo bufo. Using feminine pronouns throughout, she describes diet and egg-laying, defense mechanisms, “warts,” development from tadpole to adult, and of course how toads shed and eat their skins. Noting that global warming and habitat destruction have rendered some species endangered or extinct, she closes with a plea and, harking back to those South American origins, an image of an outsized toad, arm in arm with a dark-skinned lad (in a track suit), waving goodbye: “Hasta la vista!”
A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor . (Informational picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: July 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-77049-667-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016
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