A lighthearted lesson in letting down barriers.
An armadillo discovers that he may be armor-plated, but he doesn’t have to be thick-skinned.
This unusual friendship trio—Little Lamb, Wolf, and Omelet the alligator—get an unexpected visitor, yet again. The three have just sat down to a lovely picnic when suddenly a boulder crashes through their tasty spread. But it’s not a boulder—it’s a rolled-up armadillo who smacks into a tree. Little Lamb invites the dizzy friend home for dinner to recuperate. She offers a hug as well, but Dizzy refuses, peevishly replying, “I’m a tough armadillo, so I don’t need hugs, thank you very much.” During Dizzy’s stay, Little Lamb offers more hugs, with tiny woolen arms stretched out wide—comforting ones and congratulatory ones—but Dizzy rebuffs each hug. He’s too tough for those. Until, that is, Little Lamb finds herself in a tight spot, with a real boulder crashing toward her. Dizzy saves the day and just might accept a grateful squeeze from a friend. The sixth installment in this U.K. series is a bit meandering, but it's sweet nonetheless. The expressive animals display a range of emotional states, from joy at one another’s company and unsteadiness after a bonk on the head (complete with unsteady eyes) to concern when one of them takes a tumble.
A lighthearted lesson in letting down barriers. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781664300439
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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