Here’s hoping readers feel the same way about school as Stanley does; even if they don’t, though, they are sure to laugh at...
Stanley’s curiosity this time leads him to find out what all the kids do in school every day.
Tired of being left outside all the time, Stanley, Gassy Jack, Alice, and Nutsy (each dog’s personality masterfully captured by Slavin) team up to take on the school. They figure out how to open the huge door, conquer their fears of the school’s great size, and then glory in its delights—the lunches, the kids, running through the hallways and all kinds of places familiar to students everywhere—until they run into a room with no exit and the “toppest dog” of all: the principal (depicted as a no-nonsense black woman). But the fierce-looking administrator just pats the dogs’ heads kindly and then orders them out the door. And the following day, the four friends (and all the dogs they’ve blabbed to) are waiting when the school doors open at the end of the day—because kids are almost as much fun as dogs, and school isn’t far behind. Slavin’s illustrations are a delight, from the dogs’ revels and the kids’ excitement to the postures and facial expressions of the dogs as they await the principal’s judgment. The kids are depicted with a range of skin colors and hair textures, and at least one child is in a wheelchair.
Here’s hoping readers feel the same way about school as Stanley does; even if they don’t, though, they are sure to laugh at the dogs’ adventures. Where will they end up next? (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-77138-096-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
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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
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
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)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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