Charming and utterly delightful.
The doggie duo make a welcome return.
In this second entry in the Doggo and Pupper early-reader series, the canine pals’ distinctive personalities come more fully to the fore, and readers discover how close they truly are. Worrywart Pupper may be afraid of giant squirrels, but he longs to be a hero like Wonder Dog, whose exploits he marvels at on TV. He also has real drumming talent, nurtured by Doggo. Doggo is fully realized as a music-loving, tenderhearted, reassuring elder statesman who always has Pupper’s back. In this outing, the pair also enjoy watching the babies in a family of neighboring nesting birds learn to fly. The dog pals’ mutual interest in music, a concert the friends plan to attend in the local park, and a helpless fledgling who hasn’t quite found its wings and requires rescuing—all these plot points culminate in a heartwarming ending that delivers a wonderful message about patience, kindness, and selflessness. Doggo and Pupper may not actually save the world here, but they do offer up a lovely reading experience for emergent readers through simple, dialogue-laden prose that beginning readers should be able to master readily. As in the first series title, the colorful collage and digital illustrations are energetic and endearing. “Pupper’s Guide to Being a Hero,” a 10-step list with suggestions such as “Be helpful” and “Share what you have,” concludes the book. Seen only briefly, the dogs’ owners appear to be light-skinned.
Charming and utterly delightful. (Chapter book. 5-8)Pub Date: March 22, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-62100-9
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
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
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
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