Readers who remember Mog from Kerr’s long popular and recently reissued Mog the Forgetful Cat will be both happy and sad to see this final episode in the long series by the British author/illustrator. As the title, cover art (Mog floating in a starry sky), and opening sentences (“Mog was tired. She was dead tired . . . I want to sleep for ever”) not too subtly foreshadow, Mog is ready to die. Being a curious cat, a part of her “stayed awake” to see what would happen in the Thomas house. After a period of mourning, Mrs. Thomas brings home a kitten that has a hard time adjusting. Afraid of newspaper, noise, and being held, it is most comfortable hiding under the couch. It’s a good thing that Mog is still keeping an eye on things. After a brief jealous period, she takes heart (“I knew they’d never manage without me. I’m going in”) and models proper behavior for the kitten, including jumping, hiding under newspapers, and playing with bags. Mog also pushes the still-shy kitten into Debbie Thomas’s arms for some petting, which it discovers it likes. Finally, Rumpus is ready to become the new family pet. Debbie Thomas notes, “I’ll always remember Mog,” and the never-humble Mog leaves this earth thinking, “So I should hope.” Now Mog is able to take the last part of her journey, as “she flew up and up and up and up right into the sun.” Although Mog’s slightly ghost-like celestial presence is easily spotted in each picture and each family member does weep following Mog’s death, there is nothing scary or overwhelmingly morose here. Kerr’s understated humor and cheery, cartoon-like illustrations make the mood more sweet than sentimental or frightening. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: March 15, 2003
ISBN: 0-00-714968-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins UK/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on.
Sharpson offers so-fish-ticated readers a heads up about the true terror of the seas.
The title says it all. Our unseen narrator is just fine with other animals: mammals. Reptiles. Even birds. But fish? Don’t trust them! First off, the rules always seem to change with fish. Some live in fresh water; some reside in salt water. Some have gills, while others have lungs. You can never see what they’re up to, since they hang out underwater, and they’re always eating those poor, innocent crabs. Soon, the narrator introduces readers to Jeff, a vacant-eyed yellow fish—but don’t be fooled! Jeff’s “the craftiest fish of all.” All fish are, apparently, hellbent on world domination, the narrator warns. “DON’T TRUST FISH!” Finally, at the tail end, we get a sly glimpse of our unreliable narrator. Readers needn’t be ichthyologists to appreciate Sharpson’s meticulous comic timing. (“Ships always sink at sea. They never sink on land. Isn’t that strange?”) His delightful text, filled to the brim with jokes that read aloud brilliantly, pairs perfectly with Santat’s art, which shifts between extreme realism and goofy hilarity. He also fills the book with his own clever gags (such as an image of Gilligan’s Island’s S.S. Minnow going down and a bottle of sauce labeled “Surly Chik’n Srir’racha’r”).
A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 8, 2025
ISBN: 9780593616673
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
PERSPECTIVES
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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