All is not what it seems in this sweet, funny wordless picture book about a fox who steals a chicken. When morning breaks, a little multispecies family sits down for breakfast al fresco. A fox leaps from the shrubbery, grabs a white chicken and makes a run for it, while she screams for help. He is pursued by a bear, a rabbit and a rooster through a variety of landscapes and over the course of days and nights. The chicken’s friends never cease in their dogged pursuit, but sharp-eyed readers will notice a change: The fox cradles the chicken tenderly; in one nighttime hideaway they play a friendly game of chess. By the time bear, rabbit and rooster finally catch up to them, the chicken’s feelings have undergone a sea change—is it Stockholm Syndrome? Regardless, the end puts readers and pursuers 180 degrees from where the story had them starting. Rodriguez’s delicate line-and-watercolor paintings extend over disproportionately wide spreads (it opens to a 6” X 20” panorama), allowing children a wide-angle view of both lovely pastoral scenes and the comical capers taking place within them. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59270-092-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 30, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2010
Seasoned beginning readers will enjoy the silliness and empathize with the turtle’s wildly invasive predicament.
A fast-paced rhyming text describes the scene in omniscient narration, which is supplemented by speech bubbles to relate the afflicted turtle’s reactions. “A flock of ducks / flies in a row. / They look and see / a pond below.” As they alight, the startled turtle asks, “Who are you guys?” As the ducks grow more and more rowdy in their aquatic antics, the incensed turtle exclaims, “Hey! Cut it out!” Another two groups of ducks arrive, the first set the members of the rock-’n’-roll band the Screaming Ducks and the next the crew of a food truck amusingly called Freddy Drake’s Pies and Cakes. Now “all kinds of ducks / are on the scene. / Old ducks, young ducks, / even green.” All the ducks are of the white, domestic variety; the green refers to the vexed turtle, who protests several times, “I am not a duck.” Cartoon drawings with thick, black outlines add details to the zaniness, which eventually evolves into a pie-throwing spectacle that completely frustrates the poor turtle and forces everyone to “DUCK!” A thorough cleanup ensues under the turtle’s watchful eyes before, much to his relief, everyone leaves…but then a Camp Muckaduck school bus pulls up and disgorges a (multiracial) slew of human children. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-13-inch double-page spreads viewed at 75% of actual size.)
Seasoned beginning readers will enjoy the silliness and empathize with the turtle’s wildly invasive predicament. (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-22291-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A holiday outing that doesn’t quite satisfy.
In this follow-up to singer Parton and co-author Perl’s Billy the Kid Makes It Big (2023), literal and figurative bumps in the road imperil the touring canine country star’s promise to be home for Christmas.
Inspired by one of Parton’s holiday songs, the tale sees Billy, a small brown French bulldog, and bandmates Bo, Buster, and Binky boarding a tour bus for “pawsome” glimpses of natural wonders along with meetings with fans and “puparazzi.” Then, although Billy has sent many letters home promising to be there for the holiday, an invitation to play Barkafeller Center on Christmas Day instantly changes his tune. “Billy was happy. Though he still felt a little…he wasn’t sure what.” Readers may be excused for having mixed feelings about his mixed feelings, not to mention his tersely unapologetic note to the folks. But when, thanks to a bus-busting rock in the road on Christmas Eve, it looks like the band will have to contrive their own celebration (“Silent night, howly night”), Billy remembers that he started making music in the first place for his loved ones. He has no problem bagging the big concert (Fans? What fans? Contract? What contract?) when Dolly herself rolls up in her own bus to offer a ride back to his “Tennessee mountain home” in time for a small show for “the most important audience in the world.” While Billy cuts an endearing figure in Haley’s cartoonish illustrations, his willingness to disappoint first family, then fans may have readers feeling less than cheery.
A holiday outing that doesn’t quite satisfy. (lyrics to Parton’s “Comin’ Home for Christmas”) (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9780593755006
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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