You can count on this one to be a hit!
Look out! He’s coming to find you!
This tale, translated from the Portuguese, is set in a deep, dark jungle where animals are on the run. A snake slithers as fast as it can, an ostrich buries its head to hide, a crocodile (or maybe an alligator) makes creative use of a tree to disguise itself, and a pink elephant flees in terror. “Hurry, he’s coming!” reads the text before an ominous countdown begins…and ends with a mouse getting ready to start the next round of hide-and-seek. The energy is fun—it’s a story in the vein of a Jon Klassen tale but with illustrations that seem to be influenced by Isabel Roxas. OK, sure, not all the animals depicted live in a jungle. (Giraffes are typically found in the grasslands of Africa, ostriches call the more arid biomes home, and zebras’ habitats vary from grasslands to less-dense woodlands.) Still, the hunt-and-seek aspect of the final spread will delight readers enough to cover for this environmental goof. The story will play best for large groups of young readers, and the bold illustrations against their dark backgrounds will pop from the front of the storytelling room to the back row. The book will play well for lap-reads, too, where finer details, such as stenciled textures and what appear to be hand-drawn elements, may inspire young artists. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
You can count on this one to be a hit! (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-77147-535-8
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
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
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