by Aaron Blabey ; illustrated by Aaron Blabey ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 27, 2017
Pig probably doesn’t have any fans per se (who’d like the nasty little booger?), but his antics make learning good...
Sore loser and sore winner is always a losing combination.
“Pig was a pug / and I’m sorry to say, / if he didn’t come first, / it would ruin his day.” And chubby Pig is hard to beat…because if he’s behind, his response is to cheat. And if by some chance he does lose to, say, his long-suffering friend Trevor, he throws a fit until his opponent relents and declares Pig the actual winner. Even if Trevor just wants to play for fun, Pig’s response is “It ain’t fun till I’ve WON!” One night at supper, Pig challenges Trevor to a speed-eating contest and doesn’t bother waiting for the reluctant Trevor to agree. Pig eats so fast that he swallows his food dish. Trevor saves the day with the Heimlich, sending the dish shooting into the air. After it falls and bonks him on the head, Pig learns his lesson…sort of. Australian author/illustrator Blabey brings back his greedy pug Pig for a second American release (there will be four shortly in his native land). It seems Pig has more problems than just greed. The goggle-eyed cartoon illustrations are fun, funny, and appealingly grotesque in their exaggerated goofiness, and they are a good match for the rhyming text.
Pig probably doesn’t have any fans per se (who’d like the nasty little booger?), but his antics make learning good sportsdogship fun. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: June 27, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-338-13638-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
Share your opinion of this book
More In The Series
by Aaron Blabey ; illustrated by Aaron Blabey
by Aaron Blabey ; illustrated by Aaron Blabey
by Aaron Blabey ; illustrated by Aaron Blabey
More by Aaron Blabey
BOOK REVIEW
by Aaron Blabey ; illustrated by Aaron Blabey
BOOK REVIEW
by Aaron Blabey ; illustrated by Aaron Blabey
BOOK REVIEW
by Aaron Blabey ; illustrated by Aaron Blabey
by Hoda Kotb ; illustrated by Chloe Dominique ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2024
Pleasant enough but not particularly original.
Uplifting messages of positivity from the Today show anchor.
Hope springs eternal, so the saying goes. Kotb agrees, here delivering to children the cheery news that hope lives inside all of them and that whatever they might wish for can be theirs. All they need is a sunny outlook, and the possibilities for happy outcomes are virtually endless. Children’s dreams can be in-the-moment ones—like purple ice cream with whipped cream and a cherry—or more far-ranging ones, such as growing tall enough to reach that high shelf easily or for hair that’s long enough to braid. It doesn’t matter, the author reassures young readers. Your aspirations will be realized, so don’t give up on them—just keep believing in them and, most of all, in yourself. Throughout, Kotb calls hope a rainbow, a feeling, a gift, and a wish. Hope is “new friends you’ll find— / friends who are loving and funny and kind.” Hope is “practicing your heart out, letter by letter.” The book’s overarching theme is upbeat, but its bouncy rhyming text is clumsy. The child-appealing illustrations are colorful and lively, though they have a generic look. The cast of wide-eyed characters is racially diverse; some have visible disabilities.
Pleasant enough but not particularly original. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780593624128
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flamingo Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024
Share your opinion of this book
More by Hoda Kotb
BOOK REVIEW
by Hoda Kotb ; illustrated by Suzie Mason
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
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
Share your opinion of this book
More by Kimberly Dean
BOOK REVIEW
by Kimberly Dean ; illustrated by James Dean
BOOK REVIEW
by James Dean & Kimberly Dean ; illustrated by James Dean
BOOK REVIEW
by Joan Holub ; illustrated by James Dean
© 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.