Not so different from having a “puppy” of the canine sort. Except for the stripes. And the impressive teeth.
For boys, at least, some things haven’t changed since the Stone Age.
Caveboy Trog has the best toys—a stick, a rock, a patch of mud—but they’re all instant (pre-) history when he comes upon a crocodilian “PUPPY!” and drags it home by its red-and-green–striped tail. “GOOD PUPPY!” he shouts, even when the new arrival chows down on the (stone) sofa and bed, eats the (stone) dinnerware as well as everyone’s dinner, and makes “a boo boo” on the floor (“ BAD POOPY!” chorus his less-than-enthusiastic parents). The puppy, however, does not share Trog’s joy in its new home and mopes (when it’s not eating). Despite Trog’s best efforts to distract his buddy, the puppy cries. Why? Trog finally gets a clue when a humongous version of the puppy arrives to carry its unhappy offspring back to the swamp. No more tears! Has Trog learned a lesson? Not hardly, as he’s last seen racing home with a grip on the tail of an annoyed, elephant-sized (wait for it) “KITTY!” Graves presents the tale in big, sequential panels of simply drawn cartoons, with dialogue in balloons and sound effects as outsized as Trog’s not-exactly-domesticated companions. Trog is depicted with white skin, an impressive mop of blond hair, and a one-armed fur onesie.
Not so different from having a “puppy” of the canine sort. Except for the stripes. And the impressive teeth. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: April 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62672-225-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Neal Porter/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends
Gerald the elephant learns a truth familiar to every preschooler—heck, every human: “Waiting is not easy!”
When Piggie cartwheels up to Gerald announcing that she has a surprise for him, Gerald is less than pleased to learn that the “surprise is a surprise.” Gerald pumps Piggie for information (it’s big, it’s pretty, and they can share it), but Piggie holds fast on this basic principle: Gerald will have to wait. Gerald lets out an almighty “GROAN!” Variations on this basic exchange occur throughout the day; Gerald pleads, Piggie insists they must wait; Gerald groans. As the day turns to twilight (signaled by the backgrounds that darken from mauve to gray to charcoal), Gerald gets grumpy. “WE HAVE WASTED THE WHOLE DAY!…And for WHAT!?” Piggie then gestures up to the Milky Way, which an awed Gerald acknowledges “was worth the wait.” Willems relies even more than usual on the slightest of changes in posture, layout and typography, as two waiting figures can’t help but be pretty static. At one point, Piggie assumes the lotus position, infuriating Gerald. Most amusingly, Gerald’s elephantine groans assume weighty physicality in spread-filling speech bubbles that knock Piggie to the ground. And the spectacular, photo-collaged images of the Milky Way that dwarf the two friends makes it clear that it was indeed worth the wait.
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends . (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-9957-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
A solo debut for Wenzel showcasing both technical chops and a philosophical bent.
Wouldn’t the same housecat look very different to a dog and a mouse, a bee and a flea, a fox, a goldfish, or a skunk?
The differences are certainly vast in Wenzel’s often melodramatic scenes. Benign and strokable beneath the hand of a light-skinned child (visible only from the waist down), the brindled cat is transformed to an ugly, skinny slinker in a suspicious dog’s view. In a fox’s eyes it looks like delectably chubby prey but looms, a terrifying monster, over a cowering mouse. It seems a field of colored dots to a bee; jagged vibrations to an earthworm; a hairy thicket to a flea. “Yes,” runs the terse commentary’s refrain, “they all saw the cat.” Words in italics and in capital letters in nearly every line give said commentary a deliberate cadence and pacing: “The cat walked through the world, / with its whiskers, ears, and paws… // and the fish saw A CAT.” Along with inviting more reflective viewers to ruminate about perception and subjectivity, the cat’s perambulations offer elemental visual delights in the art’s extreme and sudden shifts in color, texture, and mood from one page or page turn to the next.
A solo debut for Wenzel showcasing both technical chops and a philosophical bent. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4521-5013-0
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
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