The single joke now in its fourth retelling is only for fans of the series…they may prefer squirrel watching to joining...
Will Stick Dog and his buddies find a way to beat the heat?
Stick Dog and his canine friends—spotted Stripes, dim-bulb Mutt, poodle Poo-Poo and Karen—are tired of the heat. They need to find some food, some water and a way to stay cool. Their hunt for water is interrupted by Poo-Poo’s squirrel obsession, until Stick Dog tricks him by playing to his vanity. They find a bunch of small humans playing with an odd contraption that the dogs decide is some kind of water weapon, but it’s too slow with the water to cool them down. (It’s a sprinkler.) When they hear annoying music and see a strange truck that makes the humans act oddly, they wonder what this “ice cream” is (dogs can read) and how it leaves delicious rainbow puddles behind. Can they get some for themselves? Stick Dog’s fourth food-centric adventure brings nothing new to the series. The slightly clueless Stick Dog leads his totally clueless friends to eventual success in finding food in a human world they don’t understand. The Wimpy Kid–like stick drawings on faux lined paper (why?) do little to keep the pages turning.
The single joke now in its fourth retelling is only for fans of the series…they may prefer squirrel watching to joining Stick Dog this time. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 7-10)Pub Date: May 19, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-227807-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading.
When Franklin School principal Mr. Boone announces a pet-show fundraiser, white third-grader Cody—whose lack of skill and interest in academics is matched by keen enthusiasm for and knowledge of animals—discovers his time to shine.
As with other books in this series, the children and adults are believable and well-rounded. Even the dialogue is natural—no small feat for a text easily accessible to intermediate readers. Character growth occurs, organically and believably. Students occasionally, humorously, show annoyance with teachers: “He made mad squinty eyes at Mrs. Molina, which fortunately she didn’t see.” Readers will be kept entertained by Cody’s various problems and the eventual solutions. His problems include needing to raise $10 to enter one of his nine pets in the show (he really wants to enter all of them), his troublesome dog Angus—“a dog who ate homework—actually, who ate everything and then threw up afterward”—struggles with homework, and grappling with his best friend’s apparently uncaring behavior toward a squirrel. Serious values and issues are explored with a light touch. The cheery pencil illustrations show the school’s racially diverse population as well as the memorable image of Mr. Boone wearing an elephant costume. A minor oddity: why does a child so immersed in animal facts call his male chicken a rooster but his female chickens chickens?
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: June 14, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-374-30223-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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