Skip this one in favor of Sattler’s Uh-Oh, Dodo! (2013) and Pig Kahuna (2011).
Odd-couple friends Chick and Pug return in a nonsensical tale so slender that it barely registers.
Pug is totally laid-back, spending his days resting in the grass and allowing Chick free rein to indulge his vivid imagination. Chick dubs Pug a superhero, a wonder dog, but all their exciting adventures are enacted by Chick alone. A favorite toy goes missing, and Chick puts all his energy into investigation and recovery. Dude the sheepdog is the culprit, and the mad chase ensues. The text only imparts the bare bones of the tale; many additional details are visual. Chick in detective mode employs a magnifying glass and a gumshoe costume, images quite possibly beyond the experience of the intended audience. There’s lots of silliness involving laundry and a sprinkler, but it is the distraction of a “nummy bone” that brings about the anticlimactic and gushing denouement. Large-scale acrylic-and–colored-pencil illustrations depict a very green and vast yard. Pug and the Dude have charm and appeal, and their physical characteristics and personalities nicely represent their breeds. Chick, however, is of an indeterminate species, neither songbird nor farmyard fowl. His antics seem demented rather than cute, and his huge eyes, triangular beak and skinny neck appear a bit creepy. There is some fun here, but lack of cohesion and substance outweighs any humor.
Skip this one in favor of Sattler’s Uh-Oh, Dodo! (2013) and Pig Kahuna (2011). (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 25, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-5999-0600-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: April 2, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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