An excellent and empathetic manual for anyone who regularly interacts with dogs.
Svoboda offers an illustrated guide for kids and adults on understanding canine body language.
Kaja, a black-and-white dog, leads readers through her neighborhood and introduces her canine friends who live there. Acting as tutor and translator, she points out how each animal uses their body to show their emotions. The book shows and describes each behavior in ways that kids will find easy to comprehend and follows up with questions meant to generate empathy. For instance, an illustration features two excited children chasing a dog, and Kaja notes, “I can tell she is scared because her ears are back and her tail is underneath her.” She then asks the reader what they do when they feel scared. The book covers both positive and negative canine emotions, showing dogs who are frightened or angry but also those who are happy or excited. A “Parent’s Corner” (denoted by a pawprint symbol) offers additional important details for adults, such as “Moving your child after a warning growl builds trust and creates a safe space for the dog.” Lastly, the book offers discussion and comprehension questions and reveals the breed of each dog in the illustrations. (Kaja, for instance, is a mix of springer spaniel and Labrador retriever.) Knoppová’s cheery illustrations are both appealing and informative; the dogs’ faces are wonderfully expressive, and their body language is just as clear and easy to understand. Whenever children’s books address safety, there’s always the possibility of expressing danger in a way that frightens readers, but fortunately, that’s not the case here. Instead, it’s a compassionate and empowering read that makes clear to children that dogs can also feel nervous, excited, or upset—and that it’s important to be able to identify those feelings in order to respect them.
An excellent and empathetic manual for anyone who regularly interacts with dogs.Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9798992483000
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Boda Books
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2026
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