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PENGUIN ON A SCOOTER

Name: PENGUIN ON A SCOOTER
Author: Caspar Babypants
ISBN: 978-1-63217-130-6

by Caspar Babypants ; illustrated by Kate Endle ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 13, 2018

Full of fun, love, and laughter; a gem! (Board book. 6 mos.-5)

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A delightful blend of playful rhymes, silly scenarios, and whimsical artwork.

This funny, lovely board book should become a favorite of kids and caregivers alike; it strikes just the right note of charm and absurdity and never talks down to its audience. Each page offers a rhymed couplet presenting adorable animals in cute and usually preposterous situations: “Nothing is cuter than a penguin on a scooter. / Nothing is sweeter than a tiny chirping tweeter. // Nothing is as lucky as a gold egg-laying ducky. / Nothing is as nice as thank-you notes from mice”; and so on. The smooth meter and flow of the verse shouldn’t surprise; in another life, author Babypants fronted the frequently silly alternative rock band the Presidents of the United States of America. He now makes children’s music; the titular song will be available as a free download from his website. Illustrator Endle’s bright, bold blend of drawing and collage brings each ridiculous couplet perfectly to life in a parade that includes a “disco-dancing filly,” “elegant” chimpanzees, a “dapper, dressy pheasant,” and more. The book is rich in vocabulary, loaded with visual appeal, and peopled with animals brimming over with zest and personality. One near rhyme and a couple of lines with almost-too-many syllables pleasingly challenge children’s sense of the poetic.

Full of fun, love, and laughter; a gem! (Board book. 6 mos.-5)

Pub Date: March 13, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-63217-130-6

Page Count: 20

Publisher: Little Bigfoot/Sasquatch

Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
OCEAN MOTIONS
by Caspar Babypants & Kate Endle ; illustrated by Kate Endle

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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SPOOKY POOKIE

by Sandra Boynton ; illustrated by Sandra Boynton ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 7, 2015

A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character.

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One of Boynton's signature characters celebrates Halloween.

It's Halloween time, and Pookie the pig is delighted. Mom helps the little porker pick out the perfect Halloween costume, a process that spans the entire board book. Using an abcb rhyme scheme, Boynton dresses Pookie in a series of cheerful costumes, including a dragon, a bunny, and even a caped superhero. Pookie eventually settles on the holiday classic, a ghost, by way of a bedsheet. Boynton sprinkles in amusing asides to her stanzas as Pookie offers costume commentary ("It's itchy"; "It's hot"; "I feel silly"). Little readers will enjoy the notion of transforming themselves with their own Halloween costumes while reading this book, and a few parents may get some ideas as well. Boynton's clean, sharp illustrations are as good as ever. This is Pookie's first holiday title, but readers will surely welcome more.

A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character. (Board book. 1-3)