Young children and their dogs will enjoy this cheery tale.
A mixed-race girl who uses a manual wheelchair finds a way for her irrepressible pet to stay by her side.
Zara’s dog, Moose, loves to say, “Hello.” When Zara hugs Moose, the faces of both child and dog beaming with contentment, readers will understand perfectly why Moose finds “goodbye” as awful as “an itch that couldn’t be scratched.” When Moose can’t accompany Zara to school, Moose “put[s] on her brakes” until Mom (who’s black) and Dad (who’s white) drag her away from Zara. But Moose has other ideas, beginning a chain of escape attempts. Each “Hello” finds the persistent pooch visiting Zara’s class in different areas of the school, her animated antics emphasized by brisk lines and scrawls. Each “Goodbye” is a cumulative refrain, requiring Mom, Dad, Zara, and more and more school personnel to get Moose to leave. Finally, Moose is alone in a crate, surrounded by white space broken only by a family portrait and Moose’s winding howl. But not for long—Zara takes Moose to “therapy dog school,” and Moose happily becomes the class reading dog. Gianferrari’s dog’s-eye metaphors for loneliness and Barton’s expressive, energetic mixed-media illustrations highlight Moose’s affection and the joy she brings to others. An author’s note provides a brief description of therapy dogs as well as two websites for further information.
Young children and their dogs will enjoy this cheery tale. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: July 25, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62672-177-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: April 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2017
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
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
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