This rambunctious pup doesn’t really stand out in the crowded field of stories about lovable dogs. (Picture book/early...
A mischievous bulldog named Rollo gets into various types of mischief around the house with amusing results.
Rollo is a full-grown bulldog with a friendly face and a collar sporting a tag with a gold letter R. He lives with his unnamed child owner, who narrates the story, describing each action that Rollo relishes, such as digging in the yard, chewing shoes, climbing on the furniture, and chasing squirrels. The patterned text states Rollo’s choice of behavior, the consequence, and the narrator’s reaction, often including the refrain, “UH-OH, ROLLO!!” The child merely reacts to Rollo’s wild behavior without providing any leadership or disciplinary consequences, and there are no adults around to discipline the dog. The canine’s actions are mildly funny, with some melodramatic crashes when Rollo falls off a chair or runs into a wall, accompanied by single words in large display type indicating the results (“BONK!” “WHAM!”). A too-pat conclusion shows Rollo seeming to apologize for his misbehavior by cuddling up to his owner with a guilty smile. Humorous cartoon-style illustrations capture Rollo’s antics as well as the child’s rather helpless attitude. While this story isn’t marketed as an early reader, the simple, patterned text and repeated refrains make it accessible to new readers.
This rambunctious pup doesn’t really stand out in the crowded field of stories about lovable dogs. (Picture book/early reader. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5247-9243-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
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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
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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