A meritorious and entertaining participatory tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
In his third outing, not falling asleep is Little Penguin’s only hope for catching a shooting star and making a wish: that of being able to fly alongside his friends, the other birds, a dream he has always entertained.
Little Penguin is not exactly a night owl. To the contrary, he is an early-night creature for whom every attempt at staying up seems to be pointless and doomed to failure. Not even his friends, Kenneth the sea gull and Franklin the orca, whom he’s entrusted with keeping him awake, are successful. Tonight however, Little Penguin is determined to stay awake and not nod off. He will not shy away from any strategy in order to remain alert: no-blinking stints, stretching, jumping-jacks in the middle of the night; he will spare no efforts. He even reaches out to readers to assist in keeping him alert. Every time Little Penguin is about to fall asleep—and he shows signs quite often—readers are to shout, “WAKE UP, LITTLE PENGUIN!” Will this work? Lively two-page spreads with friendly illustrations done in a soft, Antarctic palette adorn the simple yet very creative premise of the book, creative use of vignettes helping to underscore the humor every time Little Penguin seems to sag into slumber. And the interactive shout-along approach will make for a very entertaining bedtime. Neighbors beware!
A meritorious and entertaining participatory tale. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-268977-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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