Oscar is a friendly pup who can make lots of noises: yips and howls, barks and growls, whimpers and wheezes. Unfortunately, though, he can’t talk. But what if he could? In this jovial, straightforward story in verse, a boy asks his dog to learn how to speak (“It sure would be great if you’d talk, Oscar—please?”) and imagines how much better life would be as a result. The bright, rounded illustrations show Oscar in his potential roles as student, coach, hiker, playground partner, telephone user and game-show contestant, while the text fills in comic details about the fun the two could have together, rhyming all the way. Bowers clearly has a good time with these scenarios. Oscar sits on a stack of books at a desk, earnestly studying his ABCs; Oscar gestures confidently with a pointer at a poster about fleas at the vet’s office. While the boy realizes his dream is unlikely, he isn’t really bothered. Oscar is his best friend, after all, so even though others may not understand, he feels he knows what Oscar is saying. An enjoyable selection, this will doubtlessly appeal to any child with a passion for dogs. Though the rhymes are at times a little forced, the message of a boy’s love for and kinship with his dog speaks for itself. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: April 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4027-6563-6
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2011
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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