A light and lively piece of modern nostalgia.
In Whiteside’s picture book, a large, happy dog shows his pooch pals the sights of New York City.
Turner B., an ebullient Labrador retriever, takes on the role of tour guide for a sprightly dachshund, a gloriously moplike English sheepdog, a shaggy Scottish terrier, and a panting, slobbering bulldog. While introducing them to the Big Apple, he checks off such iconic tourist destinations as Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, and Broadway, while also paying homage to the cultures of Chinatown and Little Italy. Along the way, Turner B. and his chums indulge in such typical dog pursuits as hunting for bones (at the American Museum of Natural History!), catching balls (at Yankee Stadium), and riding with their heads out car windows—with the latter experience simulated by standing close to the subway trains as they whiz past. Whiteside narrates Turner B.’s adventures in conversational rhyming couplets, effectively channeling canine enthusiasm throughout. Even the traffic comes off as joyous: “The bright yellow taxi cabs honk and they beep. / Look both ways before crossing the street. / Waiting and waiting till the lights turn to green. Hooray! / It’s our turn. Come on, follow me!” Morana’s full-color illustrations, texture-blurred to suggest fond remembrance, offer a wealth of detail, capturing the city’s full scope and majesty.
A light and lively piece of modern nostalgia.Pub Date: Aug. 19, 2025
ISBN: 9781966829034
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Lucky Rabbit
Review Posted Online: Aug. 14, 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
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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