Three might just be a crowd for this series.
Can an old fox learn new tricks? He’ll sure try!
A fox doll joins Pig and Fox for the duo’s third outing, spelling double trouble for poor Pig. As with the two previous titles, A Pig, a Fox, and a Box (2015) and A Pig, a Fox, and Stinky Socks (2019), Fox plays tricks on his pal Pig that don’t quite go as planned. First, Fox places his new doll atop a high wall of blocks and calls out to Pig. Pig mistakes the fox doll for the real deal and rushes to rescue his friend from that precarious position, accidentally knocking down the wall and—“Oh no!”—burying Fox in the rubble. For the next trick, Fox knocks on Pig’s door and uses the doll as a decoy in an attempted surprise. The plan backfires when—“CRACK!”—the door swings to hit Fox hiding beside it: “Ouch.” Will Fox survive for a third trick or call it quits? Using fewer than 130 words, Fenske recycles his slapstick formula alongside repeated phrases to effectively entertain emerging readers. The dialogue-driven story helpfully uses color-coded speech bubbles to identify speakers. Colored backgrounds (some full, some partial) delineate most comics panels but lack outlines and are sometimes unclear. Though most will love the series’ familiar characters and cartoon violence, Pig’s oafish antics—and the repeated textual emphasis on his size—play into fat stereotypes. (This book was reviewed digitally with 7.6-by-10.2-inch double-page spreads viewed at 89% of actual size.)
Three might just be a crowd for this series. (Early reader. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5247-9212-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience.
The How to Catch A… crew try for Comet.
Having already failed to nab a Halloween witch, the Easter Bunny, a turkey, a leprechaun, the Tooth Fairy, and over a dozen other iconic trophies in previous episodes of this bestselling series, one would think the racially diverse gaggle of children in Elkerton’s moonlit, wintry scenes would be flagging…but no, here they lay out snares ranging from a loop of garland to an igloo baited with reindeer moss to an enticing candy cane maze, all in hopes of snagging one of Santa’s reindeer while he’s busy delivering presents. Infused with pop culture–based Christmas cheer (“Now I’ve already seen the shelf with the elf”), Comet prances past the traps until it’s time to gather up the kids, most of whom look terrified, for a group snapshot with the other reindeer and then climb back into harness: “This was a great stop but a few million to go / Christmas Eve must continue with style!” Though festive, the verse feels trite and unlikely to entice youngsters. A sprinkling of “True Facts About Reindeer” (“They live in the tundra, where they have friends like the arctic bunny”) wrap up this celebration of the predatory spirit. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 9781728276137
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2022
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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