A few hearty squawks and a brisk bit of exercise—what better way to start the day? (Picture book. 5-7)
Unlike her snoozing friend Mouse, Beatrix is a morning person…er, parrot, who rises both in full voice and fully ready to torment the household cat.
Beatrix knows she’s supposed to be quiet, but she loves everyone and sometimes just can’t keep it in. Poor Mouse—the slumbering rodent is blasted awake by the parrot’s hearty “GOOD MORNING, MOUSE!” and then must grab a fork and spring to the rescue when the feathered fiend proves a touch too slow making an escape after waking Kitty (a fat and wonderfully disgruntled-looking Siamese) with a doggy “Rrrruuff!” Nor is the morning rumpus over as, following a furniture-upsetting skitter through the house with Gracie the beagle, the pernicious parrot needs rescue again after falling into the goldfish bowl! Beatrix’s irrepressible character stands out as brightly as her green and gold plumage in the loosely drawn illustrations, which Judge has otherwise toned down with washes of pale color and sometimes indistinct background details. Mouse’s enraged response to Beatrix’s chipper “What should we play next?” results in an apology, a (brief) return to peace and quiet, and an affectionate closing nuzzle. Young children who share Beatrix’s morning hyperactivity, or even just her flexible relationship with the idea of an “indoor voice,” will certainly relate…as will, without doubt, their parents.
A few hearty squawks and a brisk bit of exercise—what better way to start the day? (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 5, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4814-0369-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2015
Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind.
The cool beans again step up to do a timorous fellow legume a fava…this time at the pool.
Will a rash decision to tackle the multistory super-slide lead to another embarrassing watery fail for our shy protagonist? Nope, for up the stairs right behind comes a trio of cool beans, each a different type and color, all clad in nothing but dark shades. They make an offer: “It’s not as scary if you go with friends!” As the knobby nerd explains once the thrilling ride down is done, “They all realized that I just needed some encouragement and support.” Just to make sure that both cool and uncool readers get the message, the narrator lets us know that “there are plenty of kind folks who have my back. They’re always there when I need them.” The beany bonhomie doesn’t end at the bottom of the slide, with all gliding down to the shallow end of the pool (“3 INCHES. NO DIVING”) for a splashy finale. This latest early reader starring characters from John and Oswald’s immensely popular Food Group series will be a hit with fans. Fun accessories, such as a bean who rocks pink cat-eye frames, add some pizzazz to the chromatically and somatotypically varied cast.
Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind. (Easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780063329560
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
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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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