A squirrel realizes his lifelong dream of becoming a Secret Service agent in this picture book that is long on quirky concept and short on story. Narrated by the squirrel’s friend Doug, this bit of fluff details Finnigan the squirrel’s ambitions and his pursuit of his goal via an illustrated report of the goings-on at Doug’s apartment building, Normal Towers. The report, after official investigation, yields no arrests but does give Finnigan his ticket to Washington as an official Secret Service squirrel. The bright acrylic-and-collage illustrations are pleasingly busy and feature a variety of unusual perspectives, both of which suit a story that is all about observation. Harper (There Was a Bold Lady Who Wanted a Star, 2002, etc.) has a nice sense of squirrel psychology—Finnigan celebrates his new job by “rushing around the park digging up all his hidden nuts,” accompanied by a bird’s-eye view of the path that he takes, marked by a frenzied red dotted line—and a unquestionable sense of irony. Still, there is little plot to hang this joke on, and it is doubtful that many in the likely audience will have enough sense of what the Secret Service is to get it. More than a little squirrelly. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: March 24, 2003
ISBN: 0-618-15626-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2003
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
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