A strong holiday story about courage, caring, and finding one’s voice.
Sky and Koehler (No Heartbreaker, 2019, etc.) return to Santa Claus’ dog park with another Christmas tale of love and courage starring a cute canine.
Carol, one of 100 dogs who lives at the North Pole’s dog park, loves to sing, but she’s afraid to do so in public. She sets off on a journey by train to find her courage, but the pup has no luck locating it. Then she sees a young girl performing at a Christmas Eve variety show who panics onstage. Carol races to the rescue, howling alongside the youngster to the tune of “Silent Night.” Carol then realizes she didn’t have to travel to find her courage—it was inside herself all along. As in the previous installment, Carol is given the option to return home with Santa or live with her new friend, where she fits in. The fact that Carol’s kindness brings her courage into existence offers a strong message for young readers, and Sky smoothly tells this story in cheerful rhyme. Koehler’s bright, cartoonish illustrations depict a diverse human crowd, and the girl’s family appears to be of mixed heritage. Carol’s eyelashes are perhaps a bit overstated, but the Christmas-y details in the illustrations’ margins add to the holiday appeal.
A strong holiday story about courage, caring, and finding one’s voice.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-0-9998430-6-2
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Dogs & Books
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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