by Mariana Ruiz Johnson ; illustrated by Mariana Ruiz Johnson ; translated by Rosalind Harvey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 6, 2024
Children will eat this congenial collection right up.
A town offers up delicious soup and delightful adventures.
This picture book made up of five engaging stories gives readers a peek into Villa Verde and the activities of its lively animal inhabitants. First up is a tale of a child who begs his mom for a pet—an insect who turns out to be a rather pesky nuisance and is ultimately banished to the outdoors. Other stories feature a grandmother and grandson who experience exciting escapades on a rainy day via the pages of library books; kids who are forced to move their camping trip indoors when it begins raining, but they have fun anyway telling scary stories; a young child who throws a tantrum when her dad won’t buy her everything she wants; and, finally, the title story, in which townsfolk not only collaborate to prepare the scrumptious meal but then party and tidy up afterward.This cheery Australian import, originally published in Colombia and translated from Spanish, will entertain children with its brief, sweet, down-to-earth tales and wide-eyed characters whose exploits and dialogue spring from realistic scenarios. The overarching themes of cooperation and friendship shine through. The crisp, quirky illustrations are charming and set in frameless panels, comic book–style, another reason kids will appreciate this title. Names and visual cues imply a Latin American setting.
Children will eat this congenial collection right up. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781922610614
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Berbay Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
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by Fred Paronuzzi ; illustrated by Mariana Ruiz Johnson
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by Susanna Isern ; illustrated by Mariana Ruiz Johnson ; translated by María Perez
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edited by Mariana Ruiz Johnson ; illustrated by Mariana Ruiz Johnson ; translated by Services d’edition Guy Connolly
by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nicola Slater ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2021
A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors.
A confused squirrel overreacts to the falling autumn leaves.
Relaxing on a tree branch, Squirrel admires the red, gold, and orange leaves. Suddenly Squirrel screams, “One of my leaves is…MISSING!” Searching for the leaf, Squirrel tells Bird, “Someone stole my leaf!” Spying Mouse sailing in a leaf boat, Squirrel asks if Mouse stole the leaf. Mouse calmly replies in the negative. Bird reminds Squirrel it’s “perfectly normal to lose a leaf or two at this time of year.” Next morning Squirrel panics again, shrieking, “MORE LEAVES HAVE BEEN STOLEN!” Noticing Woodpecker arranging colorful leaves, Squirrel queries, “Are those my leaves?” Woodpecker tells Squirrel, “No.” Again, Bird assures Squirrel that no one’s taking the leaves and that the same thing happened last year, then encourages Squirrel to relax. Too wired to relax despite some yoga and a bath, the next day Squirrel cries “DISASTER” at the sight of bare branches. Frantic now, Squirrel becomes suspicious upon discovering Bird decorating with multicolored leaves. Is Bird the culprit? In response, Bird shows Squirrel the real Leaf Thief: the wind. Squirrel’s wildly dramatic, misguided, and hyperpossessive reaction to a routine seasonal event becomes a rib-tickling farce through clever use of varying type sizes and weights emphasizing his absurd verbal pronouncements as well as exaggerated, comic facial expressions and body language. Bold colors, arresting perspectives, and intense close-ups enhance Squirrel’s histrionics. Endnotes explain the science behind the phenomenon.
A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-3520-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nicola Slater
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by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nancy Leschnikoff
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by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nicola Slater
by James Dean ; illustrated by James Dean ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 18, 2018
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
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More by Kimberly Dean
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by Kimberly Dean ; illustrated by James Dean
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by Joan Holub ; illustrated by James Dean
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