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WHAT'S COOKING, MOO MOO?

Name: WHAT'S COOKING, MOO MOO?
Author: Timothy Miller
ISBN: 978-0-06-241441-0

From the Moo Moo & Mr. Quackers series

by Timothy Miller ; illustrated by Timothy Miller ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 3, 2018

One half of this odd couple becomes just a little too odd.

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Moo Moo and Mr. Quackers are not Bert and Ernie.

Odd-couple stories have been popular for a long time and for many audiences: Oscar and Felix, Elephant and Piggie, R2-D2 and C-3P0. It’s possible that the stories are successful because the characters balance each other in an almost mystical way. The fussbudget becomes a little less serious, and the goofy bon vivant becomes less reckless. But there isn’t much balance in this picture book. When Moo Moo abruptly says, “We’re opening up our very own restaurant!” Mr. Quackers doesn’t really object even though Moo Moo has taken her friend’s life savings to pay for it. He hardly complains even when it becomes clear that Moo Moo can’t cook. The chef’s special is “all my favorite foods mixed together.” Mr. Quackers’ failure to react makes Moo Moo seem overbearing. Some readers will feel sorry for the duck, but others will think he’s kind of a doormat. He makes a few sardonic comments, but after crowds flee the restaurant, he just says, “At least we got to spend quality time together!” Miller’s line drawings are hilarious: Moo Moo juggling a boom box and a cake; Moo Moo flying through the air, held aloft by balloons. But the character is most endearing when she doesn’t speak.

One half of this odd couple becomes just a little too odd. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: April 3, 2018

ISBN: 978-0-06-241441-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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LOVE FROM THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR

by Eric Carle ; illustrated by Eric Carle ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 15, 2015

Safe to creep on by.

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Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.

In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.

Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap

Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE FOOD?
edited by Eric Carle

- BOOK REVIEW
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE BUG?
edited by Eric Carle

- BOOK REVIEW
MY FIRST I SEE YOU
by Eric Carle ; illustrated by Eric Carle

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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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)