Elevates standard hibernation fare to a new level.
A bear finds love in both music and a feathered friend.
Bear groggily wakes from a winter slumber, lumbering outside to greet the world. But if he had slept one more second, he would have missed it: “the moment—the moment—in a day that started everything.” An enchanting song is heard. Bear follows the sound and finds a dainty chickadee singing her heart out. She is, in fact, practicing for the opera. “AHHH-PERA,” says Bear. And then questions: “What’s the Opera?” (“It’s a story with lots of singing.”) Bear wonders if he could be part of the opera, too. Bird’s wide-eyed expression at Bear’s “BASSO PROFUNDO” voice leads readers to guess that his talents might be lacking. The two practice together and audition. In an unexpected twist, Bear does not get the part (though Bird does). But the love that has developed between them transcends all. They are still an undeniable duet, and when winter returns, Bird promises to watch over Bear as he sleeps. Kazemi’s ethereal forest, full of smudged trees and floating dandelion wisps, enhances the sentimental atmosphere of these sweet soul mates. The intended audience might not immediately hear John Paul Young’s crooning voice once the title is read, but listening to “Love Is in the Air” or an operatic aria is a logical next step. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Elevates standard hibernation fare to a new level. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2023
ISBN: 9781771475891
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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