A suitable glimpse at a mammal that’s likely to be overlooked in migration lessons.
Little Gray, a whale calf, doesn’t want to leave his lagoon, but he soon realizes why he must make the long journey north.
Little Gray loves showing off for people. He blasts bubbles out of his blowhole, slaps the water with his flukes and, for a grand finale, jumps as high as he can. Everyone claps and takes pictures. So when Mama tells him they must leave the lagoon and swim to a “special sea that’s filled with food,” he does not understand why they have to go. The ocean is cold and dark; they travel for a long time. Lindsey weaves whale facts into the journey, describing the sounds they use to communicate and various food sources. When Little Gray sees how weak and thin Mama is getting, he finally understands why they must reach their summer feeding grounds. Gabriel’s polarized palette of light blue sky and white, frothy foam for the surface contrasts starkly against the dark, shadowy depths of the ocean floor. This voyage may not have an adventurous spirit or an element of predatory danger, but it certainly shows how long the whales’ monumental migration can be. Five pages of backmatter include additional information, a map and a bibliography.
A suitable glimpse at a mammal that’s likely to be overlooked in migration lessons. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-62855-452-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Arbordale Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014
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
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