A sensitive arc depicts a journey from alienation to connection.
A dramatic and remarkably unkind pet departs, leaving a child and parent room to become closer.
When Jack stays at Dad’s house, they sometimes talk and make tacos and milkshakes. But their kitchen table is long, and they sit apart, neither animated nor chatty. Dad has stopped telling jokes, and his son’s concerned: “Jack couldn’t be there all the time. The house was so quiet. He wondered if his dad was lonely. Jack knew what that felt like.” Distance sits inaudibly between them. Then, Jack arrives one Tuesday night to find that a parrot—found on the doorstep after a storm—suddenly lives with them. Jimmy is bright green, boisterous, and mocking, even stealing Jack’s underwear. Jack’s intimidated and meekly jealous—but Dad, oblivious, finds Jimmy funny and “amazing.” In a wondrous two-spread climax, hurt feelings take physical form: Jack’s darkened bedroom fills with multitudinous parrots of many colors, all staring straight at him. Desperate, he opens the window and they all fly out. “Then morning arrived”—and three dropped green feathers show that Jimmy went too. Walker’s artwork is delicate and understated; gentle precision gives a light touch to everything from facial expressions to chairs, shoes, and headphones. When Dad makes the change that’s necessary for emotional intimacy, dialogue is spare and simple, and all the more satisfying for it. Jack and Dad appear White.
A sensitive arc depicts a journey from alienation to connection. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-358-19358-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
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
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