by Anne Marie Pace ; illustrated by Lorna Hussey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 25, 2016
This wintery pig tale is cute but possibly not cute enough
This little pig went exploring.
Pigloo, an anthropomorphic piglet, wants to go exploring and has big plans to head to the North Pole once it snows. He imagines he’ll see a red-and-white–striped pole and maybe a polar bear. His parents and big sister, Paisley, voice playful concerns about his chances and caution him to be patient and brave. As an aside, his sister also reminds him that “Admiral Byrd already found” the North Pole (Robert Peary isn’t the only one who would beg to differ). After some practice dog sledding with his stuffed animals (a bear and a unicorn) in his bedroom, snow finally falls, and Pigloo heads out only to discover that Paisley has beat him to a spot with a red-and-white pole and a polar bear—her stuffed animal. Sibling play ensues at the spot that Paisley has clearly set up, and then they head inside for snacks and report on their adventure to their doting parents. The watercolor and graphite illustrations are appealing and sweet throughout, though the rather precious vision of American exploration of the polar region alongside dog sled play, “igloo” building, and the protagonist’s very name may leave some readers cold. Why not just go sledding and build snow forts?
This wintery pig tale is cute but possibly not cute enough . (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62779-202-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
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by Jimmy Fallon ; illustrated by Miguel Ordóñez ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 9, 2015
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
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SEEN & HEARD
by Stephanie Stansbie ; illustrated by Richard Smythe ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 3, 2019
Sweet.
A caregiving bear shares with its cub how love has defined their relationship from the first moment and through the years as the cub has grown.
With rhymes and a steady rhythm that are less singsong-y than similar books, Stansbie seems to have hit a sweet spot for this offering on the I-love-you-always shelf. Readers follow the adult and child as they share special moments together—a sunset, a splash in a pond, climbing a tree, a snuggle—and the adult tells the child that the love it feels has only grown. Stansbie also takes care not to put promises in the adult bear’s mouth that can’t be delivered, acknowledging that physical proximity is not always possible: “Wherever you are, / even when we’re apart… // I’ll love you forever / with all of my heart.” The large trim size helps the sweet illustrations shine; their emphasis is on the close relationship between parent and child. Shaped peekaboo windows offer glimpses of preceding and succeeding pages, images and text carefully placed to work whatever the context. While the die cuts on the interior pages will not hold up to rough handling, they do add whimsy and delight to the book as a whole: “And now that you’re bigger, / you make my heart sing. / My / beautiful / wonderful / magical / thing.” Those last three adjectives are positioned in leaf-shaped cutouts, the turn of the page revealing the roly-poly cub in a pile of leaves, three formed by the die-cuts. Opposite, three vignettes show the cub appreciating the “beautiful,” the “wonderful,” and the “magical.”
Sweet. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-68412-910-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Silver Dolphin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
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