Meddaugh tucks an unobtrusive lesson about valuing differences into this tale of doggy devotion, her fifth featuring the ever-popular Martha. From her favorite easy chair, Martha looks on benevolently as Skits, a new little companion, creates total puppy chaos indoors and out, developing from an “equal opportunity chaser and chewer” to a specialist in snagging “anything airborne.” Soon “little” Skits is little no longer—but not even two bowls of the alphabet soup that gives Martha the power of speech produces in him anything beyond a bark. Feeling his family’s disappointment, Skits wanders disconsolately out to the yard and incautiously snaps at a yellow jacket. By the time the pain eases, he is a long way from home. With some of Martha’s comments placed in dialogue balloons, Meddaugh’s sketchy, expressive illustrations capture the entire family’s worry as they hunt for their lost member, leading up to a joyful reunion at a climactic Frisbee contest that (thanks to some timely help from Martha) Skits wins jaws down to regain his self-respect. So what if his conversational range extends from “arf” to “woof”? If it flies or floats, it’s history. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-618-05776-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2000
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
The lifecycle of the frog is succinctly summarized in this easy reader for children reading at the late first-grade level. In just one or two sentences per page, Vern details the amazing metamorphosis of the frog from egg to tadpole to adult, even injecting a little humor despite the tight word count. (“Watch out fly! Mmmm!) Large, full-color photographs on white backgrounds clearly illustrate each phase of development. Without any mention of laying eggs or fertilization, the title might be a bit misleading, but the development from black dot egg to full-grown frog is fascinating. A simple chart of the three main lifecycle steps is also included. Lifecycles are part of the standard curriculum in the early elementary grades, and this will be a welcome addition to school and public libraries, both for its informational value and as an easy reader. (Nonfiction/easy reader. 5-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-15-216304-2
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Green Light/Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2001
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