A lick on the nose to all who lend a helping paw.
Julia discovers that there’s more than one way to be a winner when she enters her beloved dog, Huxley, in a show.
What kind of a show? “Just a totally normal dog show,” says a judge—but considering that Huxley is up, in the illustrations anyway, against competitors like a dragon, a winged unicorn, and a floating green teddy bear with antennae, will Huxley get much attention? Backflips and barking on command don’t make much of an impression. Nor do Julia’s frantic attempts to up her outgoing pooch’s game with ribbons and other froufrou. But when the front-running unicorn takes a fall in the climactic round, it’s Huxley’s encouraging nose lick that gets him back on his hooves and on to the finish. In the end, even though the “Best In Show” wreath goes to the unicorn, it’s the helpful hound who brings the cheering audience to its feet and earns a ride on the grateful winner’s back. Stone depicts Julia and her dad with light-brown skin amid racially diverse background groups of owners and onlookers. As in her narrative Staniszewski never lets on that the competitors are other than canine, there’s a droll disconnect between the text and the pictures that even very young readers will enjoy. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 70% of actual size.)
A lick on the nose to all who lend a helping paw. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-62779-126-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming blend of whimsy and medieval heroism highlighting the triumph of brains over brawn.
A young owl achieves his grand ambition.
Owl, an adorably earnest and gallant little owlet, dreams of being a knight. He imagines himself defeating dragons and winning favor far and wide through his brave exploits. When a record number of knights go missing, Owl applies to Knight School and is surprisingly accepted. He is much smaller than the other knights-in-training, struggles to wield weapons, and has “a habit of nodding off during the day.” Nevertheless, he graduates and is assigned to the Knight Night Watch. While patrolling the castle walls one night, a hungry dragon shows up and Owl must use his wits to avoid meeting a terrible end. The result is both humorous and heartwarming, offering an affirmation of courage and clear thinking no matter one’s size…and demonstrating the power of a midnight snack. The story never directly addresses the question of the missing knights, but it is hinted that they became the dragon’s fodder, leaving readers to question Owl’s decision to befriend the beast. Humor is supplied by the characters’ facial expressions and accented by the fact that Owl is the only animal in his order of big, burly human knights. Denise’s accomplished digital illustrations—many of which are full bleeds—often use a warm sepia palette that evokes a feeling of antiquity, and some spreads feature a pleasing play of chiaroscuro that creates suspense and drama.
A charming blend of whimsy and medieval heroism highlighting the triumph of brains over brawn. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-316-31062-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2022
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