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THE LUNCHNAPPER

From the Pipsie, Nature Detective series

Light on both nature and mystery, though this might be just the thing to lure young readers away from their screens and into...

In their second adventure (The Disappearing Caterpillar, 2015), Pipsie and her sidekick/best friend, Alfred Z. Turtle, are on a school trip to the park.

Equipped with cameras to record each of the “Seven Wonders of Nature!” on their scavenger-hunt list, the pairs head out, determined to be first to find everything. But Pipsie and Alfred’s excitement is dimmed by a lunchnapper. Who is the thief? And will Alfred be able to focus on the mystery over the loud growling of his belly? The duo looks high and low, finding all the items on the list and sprinkling some facts about the animals and signs they encounter along the way. And Alfred’s selfie turns out to reveal the thief as well as capturing their “favorite wonder”—Alfred. The award goes to the twins, though, as team members can’t be scavenger-hunt items. They take the loss well, pleased to make yet another mystery history. Backmatter gives a few more facts about the animals they see. Bishop’s bright illustrations are reminiscent of television cartoons. Pipsie and the park ranger are dressed remarkably similarly, and young nature detectives will endeavor to equip themselves as Pipsie does, backpack, nature notebook, and magnifying glass at the ready. Pipsie is Asian, the ranger appears to be African-American, and her classmates are fairly diverse.

Light on both nature and mystery, though this might be just the thing to lure young readers away from their screens and into the great outdoors. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: April 12, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-5039-5061-0

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Two Lions

Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2016

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PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

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

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THE WONKY DONKEY

Hee haw.

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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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