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ANGELINA AND THE PRINCESS

Name: ANGELINA AND THE PRINCESS
Author: Katharine Holabird
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6961-7

From the Angelina Ballerina series

by Katharine Holabird ; illustrated by Helen Craig ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1984

If Holabird can continue to come up with empathic roles for Angelina, the series should have a devoted following.

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Angelina the winsome mouse ballerina, who debuted auspiciously last year, here encounters the perils of the performing life. On the day of tryouts for a special Royal Performance, she sneaks off with her ballet bag unbeknownst to her mother—busy in the kitchen of their thatched English snuggery (while a mouse Pierrot, one of many visual grace-notes, slumps mournfully at the window). But once on stage she gets dizzy and falls—and the leading roles in the Dance of the Flower Fairies go to Flora and Felicity. Mama is reproachful, then consoling, then affirmative: "You can still do your best with whatever part you are given, and that will help the whole performance." Angelina not only learns her own part, she memorizes the Dance of the Flower Fairies—and when Flora sprains her ankle the day of the Royal Performance, who do you think…? But this is a kindly story, so Flora gets to sit right next to the Princess of Mouseland—whom she eyes worshipfully, while all other eyes are on the stage. Like its predecessor, this is a dainty, even delectable-looking book without the least preciousness. If Holabird can continue to come up with empathic roles for Angelina, the series should have a devoted following. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1984

ISBN: 978-1-5344-6961-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clarkson Potter

Review Posted Online: May 21, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1984

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS

- BOOK REVIEW
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
by Katharine Holabird ; illustrated by Mike Deas

- BOOK REVIEW
ANGELINA'S CINDERELLA
by Katharine Holabird ; illustrated by Helen Craig

- BOOK REVIEW
ANGELINA'S BIG CITY BALLET
by Katharine Holabird ; illustrated by Helen Craig

- BOOK REVIEW
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
by Katharine Holabird ; illustrated by Mike Deas

- BOOK REVIEW
TWINKLE'S FAIRY PET DAY
by Katharine Holabird ; illustrated by Sarah Warburton

- BOOK REVIEW
TWINKLE THINKS PINK!
by Katharine Holabird ; illustrated by Sarah Warburton

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THE LEAF THIEF

by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nicola Slater ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2021

A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors.

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A confused squirrel overreacts to the falling autumn leaves.

Relaxing on a tree branch, Squirrel admires the red, gold, and orange leaves. Suddenly Squirrel screams, “One of my leaves is…MISSING!” Searching for the leaf, Squirrel tells Bird, “Someone stole my leaf!” Spying Mouse sailing in a leaf boat, Squirrel asks if Mouse stole the leaf. Mouse calmly replies in the negative. Bird reminds Squirrel it’s “perfectly normal to lose a leaf or two at this time of year.” Next morning Squirrel panics again, shrieking, “MORE LEAVES HAVE BEEN STOLEN!” Noticing Woodpecker arranging colorful leaves, Squirrel queries, “Are those my leaves?” Woodpecker tells Squirrel, “No.” Again, Bird assures Squirrel that no one’s taking the leaves and that the same thing happened last year, then encourages Squirrel to relax. Too wired to relax despite some yoga and a bath, the next day Squirrel cries “DISASTER” at the sight of bare branches. Frantic now, Squirrel becomes suspicious upon discovering Bird decorating with multicolored leaves. Is Bird the culprit? In response, Bird shows Squirrel the real Leaf Thief: the wind. Squirrel’s wildly dramatic, misguided, and hyperpossessive reaction to a routine seasonal event becomes a rib-tickling farce through clever use of varying type sizes and weights emphasizing his absurd verbal pronouncements as well as exaggerated, comic facial expressions and body language. Bold colors, arresting perspectives, and intense close-ups enhance Squirrel’s histrionics. Endnotes explain the science behind the phenomenon.

A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-7282-3520-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

- BOOK REVIEW
THE SNOW THIEF
by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nicola Slater

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BISON AND THE BUTTERFLY
by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nancy Leschnikoff

- BOOK REVIEW
DON'T TOUCH THAT FLOWER!
by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nicola Slater

PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

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PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

by James Dean ; illustrated by James Dean ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 18, 2018

Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among

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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)