Adventure and a bit of social awareness combine in a compelling book for young readers.
A young trio sets out on an adventure to save some motherless alligator hatchlings in Brooke C.’s chapter book.
Elementary school-age siblings Izzy and Sam and their neighborhood friend, Joey, members of the “Gator Getters” wild animal removal squad (despite the fact that none them are particularly at home in the wild), set off in search of a loose alligator. Sam and Izzy literally stumble onto a gator’s nest, breaking some eggs in the process. With no gator mother in sight, the trio takes the babies home with them, determined to help them live. Soon, however, after seeing an ad on TV, Izzy and Sam take off with the five babies for the Wilde Animal Sanctuary, where their cousin, Addie, works. They discover that the hatchlings’ captured mother had been taken there, too. Joey soon joins them, and the trio helps take care of the baby gators and learns about their plight (losing their natural habitats) along the way. They also learn about protestors as a group pickets the sanctuary, demanding it gets rid of the wild animals. In fact, the portly Chef wants to grab the baby gators and make them into a meal: “Dr. Wilde insists on rescuing and then releasing perfectly good meat,” he complains. Chef makes off with four of the five babies and a chase ensues. Young readers will delight in this book, a nice stop along the way between basic reading books and more mature fare like the Harry Potter series. The school-age protagonists learn some lessons about the wider world, including the basics of animal care and even civil disobedience when it comes to the group protesting at the animal sanctuary. This is a breezy, action-packed read that successfully sets up more adventures with Izzy, Sam, and Joey.
Adventure and a bit of social awareness combine in a compelling book for young readers.Pub Date: May 9, 2023
ISBN: 9798822913462
Page Count: 140
Publisher: Palmetto Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2026
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