This Dutch/Belgian import will be useful during that seemingly endless time of toilet training.
A gentle nudge to help children make the transition from potty to “real potty."
Bunny is potty trained. She brings her little red potty with her everywhere. But when her potty goes missing, she must go looking for it, stopping at friends’ houses one by one. The conversation at each animal’s home starts, “Knock, knock. Are you using the potty?” From behind a door, each animal answers “Yes,” and invites her to come in. The narrator then asks readers to speculate “Who’s sitting on this potty?”The sturdy flap that doubles as a painted bathroom door hints at what animal is sitting on the toilet. With five to nine lines of text per page, the story is somewhat wordy, but the predictable format of each interaction and conversational tone throughout will sustain children’s interest, especially if they are in the midst of toilet training. Brightly colored pictures of familiar objects, including lots of toilets, give toddlers much to talk about. (Tiger’s throne is shown with a splash guard, but otherwise no mention is made of the toileting challenges tots with penises must overcome.) When Giraffe points out that “you can never lose a real potty,” Bunny runs home and uses it. A final spread showing Bunny flushing and washing her hands before joining her friends outside will be appreciated by germ-conscious adults.
This Dutch/Belgian import will be useful during that seemingly endless time of toilet training. (Board book. 2-5)Pub Date: May 25, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-60537-639-4
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Clavis
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
This is a tremendously moving story, but some people will be moved only on the second reading, after they’ve Googled “How to...
A hug shouldn’t require an instruction manual—but some do.
A porcupine can frighten even the largest animal. In this picture book, a bear and a deer, along with a small rabbit, each run away when they hear eight simple words and their name: “I need a hug. Will you cuddle me,…?” As they flee, each utters a definitive refusal that rhymes with their name. The repetitive structure gives Blabey plenty of opportunities for humor, because every animal responds to the question with an outlandish, pop-eyed expression of panic. But the understated moments are even funnier. Each animal takes a moment to think over the request, and the drawings are nuanced enough that readers can see the creatures react with slowly building anxiety or, sometimes, a glassy stare. These silent reaction shots not only show exquisite comic timing, but they make the rhymes in the text feel pleasingly subtle by delaying the final line in each stanza. The story is a sort of fable about tolerance. It turns out that a porcupine can give a perfectly adequate hug when its quills are flat and relaxed, but no one stays around long enough to find out except for an animal that has its own experiences with intolerance: a snake. It’s an apt, touching moral, but the climax may confuse some readers as they try to figure out the precise mechanics of the embrace.
This is a tremendously moving story, but some people will be moved only on the second reading, after they’ve Googled “How to pet a porcupine.” (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Jan. 29, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-29710-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A funny tale about stress and an ever upping ante, with a comforting end.
Something is preventing Owl from falling asleep.
Owl leans back against his white pillow and headboard. “Squeek!” says something underneath the bed. Owl’s never heard that sound before, so he fastens his pink bathrobe and answers the front door. Nobody. It must be the wind; back to bed. Bidding himself goodnight, he climbs into bed—and hears the noise again. Time after time, he pops out of bed seeking the squeaker. Is it in the cupboard? He empties the shelves. Under the floor? He pulls up his floorboards. As Owl’s actions ratchet up—he destroys the roof and smashes the walls, all in search of the squeak—so does his anxiety. Not until he hunkers down in bed under the night sky (his bed is now outdoors, because the house’s roof and walls are gone), frantically clutching his pillow, does he see what readers have seen all along: a small, gray mouse. In simple illustrations with black outlines, textured coloring, and foreshortened perspective, Pizzoli plays mischievously with mouse placement. Sometimes the mouse is behind Owl or just out of his sightline; other times, the mouse is on a solid, orange-colored page across the spread from Owl, which removes him from Owl’s scene in a rather postmodern manner. Is the mouse toying with Owl? Who knows?
A funny tale about stress and an ever upping ante, with a comforting end. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4847-1275-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
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