Tiny tries hard, but his tale isn’t one to be treasured.
Tiny is a small but determined dog who digs for hidden treasures with encouragement from his owner and despite discouragement from other critters.
The perky star of the story is a white dog with brown spots and floppy, black ears. His unnamed owner is a little black boy with red glasses who believes in Tiny’s abilities to sniff out treasures and dig them up. A larger dog, a cat, and a bird all question Tiny’s excavations with negative, teasing, and sometimes-bullying comments about his size and strength. Tiny perseveres, digging up a fish bone, a wishbone, a bone shaped like a telephone, and a trombone. After more digging, Tiny uses a long leash to pull something huge out of the pit he has dug—a complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton. The skeleton emerges intact, and Tiny takes it home, presumably as his pet. The rhyming story is humorous, but the verses have a singsong quality as well as some rather awkward lines and inelegant meter. Cartoon-style illustrations in watercolor and ink use white backgrounds to dramatic effect, with lots of digging action and varied perspectives. Excavating buried treasure is a popular theme explored more winningly in Paul Meisel’s See Me Run (2011) and See Me Dig (2013) and in Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen’s Caldecott Honor book, Sam and Dave Dig a Hole (2014).
Tiny tries hard, but his tale isn’t one to be treasured. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 30, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-545-90429-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
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
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 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.
