A funny, high-flying exploration of sound words that’s perfect for plucky new readers ready to let loose.
A zany tale inspired by the name of the popular children’s game.
Flying south, two ducks encounter a goose headed in the same direction. “Duck. Duck. Goose,” as the familiar refrain goes. But what’s this? A moose? Tootling along on a motorized scooter carried aloft on a parachute, this moose is “on the loose.” Then the gang soars over a train “caboose” far below. Thus flies this uproarious rhyming tale, comprised of the barest minimum of vocabulary. Almost all the words end in -uck (cluck, truck, stuck, muck, luck) and -oose (loose, vamoose), making this riotous book perfect for kids ready to spread their own wings as brand-new readers. Once children get the hang of the phonics, they’ll fly through this tale with plenty of giggles. Kids should be encouraged to volunteer other words that rhyme with the book’s dominant sounds. In addition to honing an appreciation for rhyme and helping to develop vocabulary, Hare introduces the concept of homophones when he uses the word duck not as a noun but as an imperative verb (in one hilarious scene, a duck riding on top of a truck fails to notice a low-hanging traffic signal). All ends happily when everyone arrives safely at their tropical destination. The comical artwork is a blend of hand-drawn pencil with digital color and accents.
A funny, high-flying exploration of sound words that’s perfect for plucky new readers ready to let loose. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9780063093232
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
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
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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