A rousing, toothy adventure.
A young girl must figure out a way to help a sharp-toothed and fearsome creature many times her size.
Crocodiles come from all over the jungle to see the child they call Little Doctor, who attends to a variety of ailments: splinters, sprains, and self-esteem issues. In return for her ministrations they regale the girl with stories of adventure and fearless beasts. Then an enormous crocodile known as Big Mean appears at the girl’s door, and it takes some patience and an accidental trip inside Big Mean’s jaws to diagnose the problem. Little Doctor frees four hatchlings (carried gently inside Big Mean’s mouth) tangled and trapped by a plastic beverage yoke. Gilmore’s crocodiles, both large and small, are reptilian and sly, even dangerous-looking, accentuating the child’s devotion to these far-from-cuddly creatures. The girl is light-skinned, slim, determined, and serious. Her house in the jungle is filled with crocodile-themed art, including diagrams of the crocodilian life cycle and anatomy, and tools of the doctor’s trade—clipboards, a reflex hammer. The art is angular and detailed, with fine lines and subtle colors. The use of the word “fearless” instead of “fearsome” to describe the crocodiles emphasizes the courage it takes both humans and wild creatures to trust. Big Mean repays with a tale of “great daring and determination”—a story about the Little Doctor herself.
A rousing, toothy adventure. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-77147-344-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
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
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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