Telling one story well is enough of a challenge, but this book perfectly balances two stories and the characters within...
A rabbit and a fox who are close friends decide to take trips to space and under the sea, separated by distance but in perfect harmony.
Clearly best buds, Garcia and Colette nevertheless can’t agree on a shared trip destination, so each of them goes off to build a craft: one to explore the stars, another to dive under the sea. Using a giant stack of hodgepodge items including musical instruments, Garcia and Colette construct a rocket and a submarine, respectively, pack nearly but not quite identical stacks of peanut-butter sandwiches, and go on parallel explorations. What follows is a predictable but expertly constructed dual journey, with the watery depths and dark space informing each other in clever and kinetic ways. The two distant locations bleed into each other across the gutter or serve as neighboring counterpoints when smaller panels alternate between the two. Space and the ocean depths are, of course, beautiful, quiet, and, eventually, lonely. The two friends can’t wait to meet back and, together, take a new adventure in a vast desert: “There was sand beneath their feet. There were stars above their heads. There was darkness and quiet all around them.” Illustrations are dynamic and well-juxtaposed throughout, and the full-speed-ahead enthusiasm of Garcia and Colette is infectious.
Telling one story well is enough of a challenge, but this book perfectly balances two stories and the characters within them, adding up to more than the sum . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-17675-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
A flavorful call to action sure to spur young introverts.
In this latest slice in the Food Group series, Humble Pie learns to stand up to a busy friend who’s taking advantage of his pal’s hard work on the sidelines.
Jake the Cake and Humble Pie are good friends. Where Pie is content to toil in the background, Jake happily shines in the spotlight. Alert readers will notice that Pie’s always right there, too, getting A-pluses and skiing expertly just behind—while also doing the support work that keeps every school and social project humming. “Fact: Nobody notices pie when there’s cake nearby!” When the two friends pair up for a science project, things begin well. But when the overcommitted Jake makes excuse after excuse, showing up late or not at all, a panicked Pie realizes that they won’t finish in time. When Jake finally shows up on the night before the project’s due, Pie courageously confronts him. “And for once, I wasn’t going to sugarcoat it.” The friends talk it out and collaborate through the night for the project’s successful presentation in class the next day. John and Oswald’s winning recipe—plentiful puns and delightful visual jokes—has yielded another treat here. The narration does skew didactic as it wraps up: “There’s nothing wrong with having a tough conversation, asking for help, or making sure you’re being treated fairly.” But it’s all good fun, in service of some gentle lessons about social-emotional development.
A flavorful call to action sure to spur young introverts. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780063469730
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
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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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