A great, big glow-in-the-dark grin greets readers on the cover of this latest visit with North America’s favorite shrinking violet. “Scaredy Squirrel never sleeps. He’d rather stay awake than risk having a bad dream in the middle of the night.” All sorts of ghastly intruders could visit: ghosts, fairies (menacingly buck-toothed), polka-dot monsters (a great V of a frown poised over its one eye)—you name it. In accordance with the now-familiar formula, Scaredy develops a series of bizarre strategies to fend off sleep (scrapbooking “keeps you well-organized and productive”), assembles an emergency kit and devises a “Bad Dream Action Plan” that includes using molasses to slow down vicious unicorns. The panels and diagrams will be familiar to any of Scaredy’s fans (Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach, 2008, etc.), as will the timorous squirrel’s eventual “solution.” Familiarity doesn’t breed contempt, though, as Watt has honed in on a nearly universal childhood fear; kids afraid of the nighttime will recognize themselves, and the sweet silliness with which Scaredy approaches his fear will make them laugh even as it eases them to nightmare-free slumber. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-55453-288-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Turkey’s in the “kind of trouble where it’s almost Thanksgiving...and you’re the main course.” Accordingly, Turkey tries on disguise after disguise, from horse to cow to pig to sheep, at each iteration being told that he looks nothing like the animal he’s trying to mimic (which is quite true, as Harper’s quirky watercolors make crystal clear). He desperately squeezes a red rubber glove onto his head to pass as a rooster, only to overhear the farmer suggest a poultry plan B when he’s unable to turn up the turkey. Turkey’s horrified expression as he stands among the peppers and tomatoes—in November? Chalk it up to artistic license—is priceless, but his surroundings give him an idea. Good fun, but it may lead to a vegetarian table or two. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-7614-5529-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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