LIZARD FROM THE PARK

Name: LIZARD FROM THE PARK
Author: Mark Pett
ISBN: 978-1-4424-8321-7

by Mark Pett ; illustrated by Mark Pett ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 8, 2015

As independent as Max and Ruby, as creative as purple-crayon–wielding Harold, and as dedicated a friend as Charlotte’s...

bookshelf

The tale of a sizable sidekick for one competent kid.

Leonard, a curly-haired, brown-skinned little boy, finds an egg in the park one day and takes it home to his apartment on the top floor of a tall building. In the morning, Leonard witnesses his “lizard” busting out of its egg, prompting the name “Buster.” Though a trusty companion who accompanies Leonard on all of his jaunts around the city, the lizard soon grows to a problematic size. The annual parade (with floats like those in Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade) offers just the opportunity Leonard needs to find his buddy a new home. Pett’s simple and sparse illustrations focus on Leonard and Buster by illustrating the pair in bright colors and other people and objects along the city streets in grayscale or dull colors. This highlights the book’s amusing irony: despite the presence of a large green dinosaur in a busy city, nobody pays any attention to Leonard or Buster. In fact, Leonard roams the city from day to day without interruption or attention from parents or other interfering adults. He solves his own problems and takes care of the pet he has acquired of his own volition.

As independent as Max and Ruby, as creative as purple-crayon–wielding Harold, and as dedicated a friend as Charlotte’s Wilbur, Leonard will delight kids of all ages, regardless of habitat. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-4424-8321-7

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: June 5, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

- BOOK REVIEW
I EAT POOP.
by Mark Pett ; illustrated by Mark Pett

- BOOK REVIEW
NIA AND THE NEW FREE LIBRARY
by Ian Lendler ; illustrated by Mark Pett

- BOOK REVIEW
I'M NOT MILLIE!
by Mark Pett ; illustrated by Mark Pett

PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

bookshelf

PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

by James Dean ; illustrated by James Dean ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 18, 2018

Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among

bookshelf

Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.

If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”

Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018

ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

- BOOK REVIEW
PETE THE KITTY'S FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL
by Kimberly Dean ; illustrated by James Dean

- BOOK REVIEW
I LOVE PETE THE KITTY
by James Dean & Kimberly Dean ; illustrated by James Dean

- BOOK REVIEW
TOOL SCHOOL
by Joan Holub ; illustrated by James Dean

bookshelf

ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

bookshelf

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)