Livingstone Mouse (1996) returns to the scene in a musically themed adventure. A gathering of woodland creatures preparing for a dance performance are nothing but tangled feet (or slithery knots in the case of the snakes) because they ain’t got that swing. Then Livingstone Mouse comes to the rescue with a little rhythm, in a cheery tale that doubles as a modest natural-history lesson. An evening of dance is scheduled in the forest, but as Livingstone comes across the performers, he finds problems, problems, problems: the foxes are trotting on each others toes; the snakes turn the twist into a sheepshank; and the centipede can’t get the clog dance right (“he keeps tripping over his boots”). In each instance, Livingstone politely mentions, “I think your rhythm’s off.” The artists tell him, in so many words, to mind his own P’s and Q’s; but their coaches agree with Livingstone, and he gathers them in his wake as he proceeds from one debacle to the next. The mouse and the coaches form Livingstone Mouse and His Insect Band to provide the necessary ingredient to make the dance a success—the beat. While the story has a pleasing progression with rhythmically repeating sequences, it also manages (in its own droll way) to convey an introduction to an entire company of animals that one might encounter in the woods, as well as a couple of sharply drawn, unusual insects: a cicada and a katydid. Cole’s (The Wacky Wedding, 1999, etc.) artwork is perfectly silly, with lots of commanding two-page spreads in forest greens that make clear the laughable situations Livingstone has found. And a-one, and a-two, keep that rhythm Livingstone. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7868-0307-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
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