Adorable, enchanting, and very ducky indeed.
Feathered newcomers make a memorable theater debut in this latest from actor Andrews and her daughter Hamilton.
Mr. Puddleduck assures his concerned spouse that they’ll find the right place to build a nest for their first clutch of eggs. Exhausted Mrs. P hops into a flower box outside a theater displaying a poster of a performer holding a feathered fan (“That’s a good sign,” says Mr. P). Mrs. P lays her eggs, and Mr. P notes activities inside and outside the building. Peeking in, Mr. P is dazzled by musicians as well as performers wearing glittery costumes: It’s a show! After one rehearsal, Mr. P excitedly quacks and flaps his wings, then feels embarrassed when the performers notice him. He exits but is greeted by Mrs. P’s cacophonous quacking: The newly hatched ducklings, tumbling from the flower box onto the street, must be led to the water, pronto! Mr. P, having learned something about stagecraft, shouts, “Places, everyone!” The ducklings form their own perfect “chorus line,” and the musicians play a marching tune. Indeed, all the performers, as well as various townsfolk, join the parade as the ducklings follow their parents into the water, to a rousing ovation. Bravo to this sweet, gently humorous tale. Readers will be captivated by and root for the protagonists and appreciate the theater setting and denouement. The colorful digital illustrations incorporate lively onomatopoeic words. Human characters are diverse.
Adorable, enchanting, and very ducky indeed. (authors’ note) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 30, 2024
ISBN: 9780316283083
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor
Having surveyed worms, spiders, flies, and head lice, Gravel continues her Disgusting Critters series with a quick hop through toad fact and fancy.
The facts are briefly presented in a hand-lettered–style typeface frequently interrupted by visually emphatic interjections (“TOXIN,” “PREY,” “EWWW!”). These are, as usual, paired to simply drawn cartoons with comments and punch lines in dialogue balloons. After casting glances at the common South American ancestor of frogs and toads, and at such exotic species as the Emei mustache toad (“Hey ladies!”), Gravel focuses on the common toad, Bufo bufo. Using feminine pronouns throughout, she describes diet and egg-laying, defense mechanisms, “warts,” development from tadpole to adult, and of course how toads shed and eat their skins. Noting that global warming and habitat destruction have rendered some species endangered or extinct, she closes with a plea and, harking back to those South American origins, an image of an outsized toad, arm in arm with a dark-skinned lad (in a track suit), waving goodbye: “Hasta la vista!”
A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor . (Informational picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: July 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-77049-667-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts.
Can knightly deeds bring together a feathered odd couple who are on opposite daily schedules?
Having won over a dragon (and millions of fans) in the Caldecott Honor–winning Knight Owl (2022), the fierce yet impossibly cute nocturnal, armor-clad owlet faces a new challenge—sleep deprivation—in the wake of taking on Early Bird, a trainee who rises with the sun and chatters interminably: “I made pancakes! Do you like pancakes? I love pancakes! Where’s the syrup?” It’s enough to test the patience of even the knightliest of owls, and eventually Knight Owl explodes in anger. But although Early Bird is even smaller than her mentor, she turns out to be just as determined to achieve knighthood. After he tells her to leave, she acquits herself so nobly in a climactic encounter with a pack of wolves that she earns a place at the castle. Denise proves a dab hand at depicting genuinely slinky, scary wolves as well as slipping cheerfully anachronistic newspapers and other sight gags into his realistically wrought medieval settings to underscore the tale’s tongue-in-cheek tone. Better yet, a final view of the doughty duo sitting down together to a lavish pancake breakfast/dinner at dusk ends the episode in a sweet rush of syrup and bonhomie.
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9780316564526
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
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