by Lionel Daunais & illustrated by Marie Lafrance & translated by Michelle Campagne ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2010
The lyrics to the first song of the enclosed 13-song CD comprise this book's illustrated text and provide its title. (Lyrics to the other 12 appear at the back.) Dad's a big brown bulldog in a suit and tie, and Mom's an equally large white dog in a bright red dress. Blue Doggy, made of yarn, is also impeccably dressed. One day, his parents lock him in the bathroom closet so they can go to the park to watch humans on display...in cages! Doggy cries, then dreams; but while he's asleep, hundreds of mites march under the closet door and eat him, leaving only his cotton rag tail. Mom ends the tale by starting to knit another doggy. Lafrance's arresting illustrations have beautiful, saturated colors and play with perspective. The song as performed by translator Campagne gives it a quirky spin; otherwise it seems slightly macabre. Some of the other songs are very kid-oriented (squeaky new shoes, a conversation with Grandpa), and some (like "Kangarooster Bird" and "The Wrench"—about a doomed tool romance) are appealingly silly. Sublime for some, for others not so much. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-2-923163-64-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: The Secret Mountain
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2010
Share your opinion of this book
More by Lionel Daunais
BOOK REVIEW
by Lionel Daunais & illustrated by Marie Lafrance & developed by The Secret Mountain
by Craig Smith ; illustrated by Katz Cowley ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2010
Hee haw.
Awards & Accolades
Likes
71
Our Verdict
GET IT
IndieBound Bestseller
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
Share your opinion of this book
More by Craig Smith
BOOK REVIEW
by Craig Smith ; illustrated by Katz Cowley
BOOK REVIEW
by Doug MacLeod ; illustrated by Craig Smith
BOOK REVIEW
by Adam Osterweil and illustrated by Craig Smith
by Tedd Arnold ; illustrated by Tedd Arnold ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2013
A first-rate sharkfest, unusually nutritious for all its brevity.
Buzz and his buzzy buddy open a spinoff series of nonfiction early readers with an aquarium visit.
Buzz: “Like other fish, sharks breathe through gills.” Fly Guy: “GILLZZ.” Thus do the two pop-eyed cartoon tour guides squire readers past a plethora of cramped but carefully labeled color photos depicting dozens of kinds of sharks in watery settings, along with close-ups of skin, teeth and other anatomical features. In the bite-sized blocks of narrative text, challenging vocabulary words like “carnivores” and “luminescence” come with pronunciation guides and lucid in-context definitions. Despite all the flashes of dentifrice and references to prey and smelling blood in the water, there is no actual gore or chowing down on display. Sharks are “so cool!” proclaims Buzz at last, striding out of the gift shop. “I can’t wait for our next field trip!” (That will be Fly Guy Presents: Space, scheduled for September 2013.)
A first-rate sharkfest, unusually nutritious for all its brevity. (Informational easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-50771-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
Share your opinion of this book
More In The Series
by Tedd Arnold ; illustrated by Tedd Arnold
by Tedd Arnold ; illustrated by Tedd Arnold
by Tedd Arnold ; illustrated by Tedd Arnold
More by Tedd Arnold
BOOK REVIEW
by Tedd Arnold , Martha Hamilton & Mitch Weiss ; illustrated by Tedd Arnold
BOOK REVIEW
by Tedd Arnold ; illustrated by Tedd Arnold
BOOK REVIEW
by Tedd Arnold & Martha Hamilton & Mitch Weiss ; illustrated by Tedd Arnold
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.