Waber (Lyle at Christmas, 1998, etc.) introduces another beguiling and worthy creature into an unsuspecting home where it first disrupts, then engages, then makes itself a part. First off, the home is a pretty curious abode of great silence: “the quiet man, the quiet woman, / the quiet cat and bird, / ate their dinner, sipped their drink, / and never spoke a word.” They would never eat a radish, for instance, because of the snap-crunch. “They ate instead, / stewed tomatoes, / mashed potatoes, / and puddings made of bread.” Into this scene of utter tranquility, one stormy night, enters a mouse, “who was tired and hungry, / and had seen better days.” The mouse finds the pantry and starts tucking it in. Sated, he takes a snooze and, oh, how his snores rock the house. “Glassware clinked, / dishes clattered. / A bowl from the cupboard / fell and shattered.” Blasted from their sleep, the house’s inhabitants hasten to the source of the racket. The mouse explains his dire circumstances, shows contrition, and learns to walk softly in the world. Except for the nighttime, when he continues to snore like a series of gas explosions. Earplugs remedy that annoyance. Live and let live, Waber counsels, we all have our quirks (snoring is a public nuisance, but what about that obsessive/compulsive need for quiet?), and always extend a helping hand to our fellow creatures. Read aloud, Waber’s verse is music—“His snores were roars / with whistling encores”—and his artwork roughly handsome, with the deep-dish color of crayons, plus plenty of it is in panels to keep eyes entertained as the verse unwinds. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-395-97518-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2000
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Turkey’s in the “kind of trouble where it’s almost Thanksgiving...and you’re the main course.” Accordingly, Turkey tries on disguise after disguise, from horse to cow to pig to sheep, at each iteration being told that he looks nothing like the animal he’s trying to mimic (which is quite true, as Harper’s quirky watercolors make crystal clear). He desperately squeezes a red rubber glove onto his head to pass as a rooster, only to overhear the farmer suggest a poultry plan B when he’s unable to turn up the turkey. Turkey’s horrified expression as he stands among the peppers and tomatoes—in November? Chalk it up to artistic license—is priceless, but his surroundings give him an idea. Good fun, but it may lead to a vegetarian table or two. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-7614-5529-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2009
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