Cute enough overall, but Cat’s previous outings are stronger titles for little readers.
When Cat’s shoe goes missing, Cat and Bird take a ride to find it.
Purcell’s skateboarding Cat from Cat’s New Hat (2020) is on another adventure with friend Bird, this time looking for Cat’s missing shoe. As the pair skateboard along, they encounter a few possible shoes that turn out to be not quite right until finally finding the match on a monster’s foot. Purcell offers little readers opportunities to notice similarities and differences. Some shoes are the wrong color, others the wrong size (and the wrong color). This is a nice way to engage readers in the hunt. The story is told in a mix of narrative and speech and thought balloons, the latter containing interactions between Cat and Bird, and it reads just right. Those highlights aside, the text begins with rhythm and rhyme, but it’s not consistently carried out. Cat’s location is very specifically indicated with cacti, but then that seems irrelevant to the adventure. Cat and Bird encounter an owl and snakes before meeting the monster, which readers have been primed to imagine will be another animal thanks to other context clues. While this surprise is surely part of the silliness, it also feels a bit misplaced. In a break from previous, nongendered titles, here Cat is assigned a masculine pronoun.
Cute enough overall, but Cat’s previous outings are stronger titles for little readers. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-80036-010-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Tiny Seed
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character.
One of Boynton's signature characters celebrates Halloween.
It's Halloween time, and Pookie the pig is delighted. Mom helps the little porker pick out the perfect Halloween costume, a process that spans the entire board book. Using an abcb rhyme scheme, Boynton dresses Pookie in a series of cheerful costumes, including a dragon, a bunny, and even a caped superhero. Pookie eventually settles on the holiday classic, a ghost, by way of a bedsheet. Boynton sprinkles in amusing asides to her stanzas as Pookie offers costume commentary ("It's itchy"; "It's hot"; "I feel silly"). Little readers will enjoy the notion of transforming themselves with their own Halloween costumes while reading this book, and a few parents may get some ideas as well. Boynton's clean, sharp illustrations are as good as ever. This is Pookie's first holiday title, but readers will surely welcome more.
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-553-51233-5
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Robin Corey/Random
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to.
This simplified version of Diesen and Hanna’s The Pout-Pout Fish (2008) is appropriate for babies and toddlers.
Brief, rhyming text tells the story of a sullen fish cheered up with a kiss. A little pink sea creature pokes his head out of a hole in the sea bottom to give the gloomy fish some advice: “Smile, Mr. Fish! / You look so down // With your glum-glum face / And your pout-pout frown.” He explains that there’s no reason to be worried, scared, sad or mad and concludes: “How about a smooch? / And a cheer-up wish? // Now you look happy: / What a smile, Mr. Fish!” Simple and sweet, this tale offers the lesson that sometimes, all that’s needed for a turnaround in mood is some cheer and encouragement to change our perspective. The clean, uncluttered illustrations are kept simple, except for the pout-pout fish’s features, which are delightfully expressive. Little ones will easily recognize and likely try to copy the sad, scared and angry looks that cross the fish’s face.
An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-374-37084-8
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
