Everyone’s favorite recalcitrant pigeon is back and funnier than ever! You can count on it.
There’s no possible way the Pigeon is going to count to 10! Well…maybe.
Sometimes a bird just doesn’t feel like counting to 10, OK? Featuring the Pigeon in his customary capricious state, this board book directly addresses audiences just like previous installments, but this time our hero is refusing instead of requesting. He’s got plenty of good reasons not to count, including number five (“’cuz!”) and number six (“Double ’cuz!!!”). But the Pigeon conveys real, relatable emotion when he admits that he’s scared of failing: “SOMETIMES I FORGET WHAT NUMBER COMES AFTER NINE!!!” All readers will snicker at the over-the-top antics, but preschoolers in the know will especially revel in the joke—the Pigeon is so busy naming the reasons why he doesn't want to count to 10 that he winds up counting to 10 despite himself. Not to worry; the stubborn bird always gets the last word: He’s counting to 11! For the most part, there’s nothing to actually count, making the book as much about emotions as math. Illustrated in Willems’ signature minimalistic style, even small details like a rounded eye or shed feather are as emotive as ever, and pages pop with frenetic, barely contained chaos. Rich, jewel-toned backgrounds highlight the Pigeon’s melodramatic expressions, and extravagantly multilayered debossing adds a perfect amount of tactile interest for little fingers.
Everyone’s favorite recalcitrant pigeon is back and funnier than ever! You can count on it. (Board book. 2-7)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781454964407
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A bit predictable but pleasantly illustrated.
Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault’s classic alphabet book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989) gets the Halloween treatment.
Chung follows the original formula to the letter. In alphabetical order, each letter climbs to the top of a tree. They are knocked back to the ground in a jumble before climbing up in sequence again. In homage to the spooky holiday theme, they scale a “creaky old tree,” and a ghostly jump scare causes the pileup. The chunky, colorful art is instantly recognizable. The charmingly costumed letters (“H swings a tail. / I wears a patch. J and K don / bows that don’t match”) are set against a dark backdrop, framed by pages with orange or purple borders. The spreads feature spiderwebs and jack-o’-lanterns. The familiar rhyme cadence is marred by the occasional clunky or awkward phrase; in particular, the adapted refrain of “Chicka chicka tricka treat” offers tongue-twisting fun, but it’s repeatedly followed by the disappointing half-rhyme “Everybody sneaka sneak.” Even this odd construction feels shoehorned into place, since “sneaking” makes little sense when every character in the book is climbing together. The final line of the book ends on a more satisfying note, with “Everybody—time to eat!”
A bit predictable but pleasantly illustrated. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9781665954785
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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