A clever suspense story for very young children also gently shows them the face(s) of silly fears. When Farmer hears a storm is coming, he tells dog to call the animals into the barn. Once gathered there, all the noise wakes up Cat, who, upon being told “STORM IS COMING!,” asks, “And who is Storm?” No one, not dog, not duck, not cows, knows who Storm is, but the weather outside is getting ominous, and the frightened animals hope it will help hide them. Watching and listening, they get increasingly nervous, but are able to find solace in each other until the sun comes back out and so, therefore, they can too, believing Storm never has arrived. The well-paced text told from the animals’ point of view builds suspense, but even younger children will feel “in the know,” understanding how the fear factor comes from just a little ignorance of a word everyone should know, and they will enjoy the inside (the barn) joke. The softened effects, bright colors, and perspective of the drawings reinforce and enhance the story in a blazingly seamless design. While the story does its suspenseful work, the comforted young reader sees the storm through windows along with the animals. Tekavec debuts her perfectly pitched read-aloud, replete with sheep’s bleating stutters, accompanied by Spengler’s (Clickety Clack, 1999) splendid (and somewhat goofy) pastel renderings, to create a package that will be used by storytellers, teachers, and most importantly kids, over and over again. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8037-2626-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2001
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
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
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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