A story that encourages exploration and finding oneself along the journey.
A sock consumed by wanderlust decides to leave the safety of the dresser drawer.
Socks always seem to go missing—but just one of the pair. Where do they go? This particular fuzzy blue foot covering has a lot to explore. “Did it run away with a moose? / Sneak off for some juice? / Whatever happened, it’s a...” The titular phrase is shouted joyfully across the next double-page spread: “SOCK ON THE LOOSE!” The cerulean protagonist meets other socks who have also set off for adventures. There’s Dot (who has orange polka dots), Old Sock (who is gray and wears tiny spectacles), Sport Sock, and so on. The escapades that the socks enjoy are silly and arbitrary, with no clear connection to their sockness: “There are so many things a sock can do / when given the chance to try something new. / Surf a big moon wave! / Explore a watermelon cave!” Ultimately, as is often the case, after getting a better sense of oneself from a trip into the wider world, home beckons. Newcomer McGlauflin’s text has a fun bounce—but it also reaches to complete the rhyme and at times struggles with meter, both coming at the expense of storytelling. The splotched watercolors (foreshadowed by the sock’s artistic endeavors depicted in the frontmatter) add to the glee and whimsy of the open road. (This book was reviewed digitally with 8.5-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 33.4% of actual size.)
A story that encourages exploration and finding oneself along the journey. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-30457-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
Watching unlikely friends finally be as “happy as two someones can be” feels like being enveloped in your very own hug.
What to do when you’re a prickly animal hankering for a hug? Why, find another misfit animal also searching for an embrace!
Sweet but “tricky to hug” little Hedgehog is down in the dumps. Wandering the forest, Hedgehog begs different animals for hugs, but each rejects them. Readers will giggle at their panicked excuses—an evasive squirrel must suddenly count its three measly acorns; a magpie begins a drawn-out song—but will also be indignant on poor hedgehog’s behalf. Hedgehog has the appealingly pink-cheeked softness typical of Dunbar’s art, and the gentle watercolors are nonthreatening, though she also captures the animals’ genuine concern about being poked. A wise owl counsels the dejected hedgehog that while the prickles may frighten some, “there’s someone for everyone.” That’s when Hedgehog spots a similarly lonely tortoise, rejected due to its “very hard” shell but perfectly matched for a spiky new friend. They race toward each other until the glorious meeting, marked with swoony peach swirls and overjoyed grins. At this point, readers flip the book to hear the same gloomy tale from the tortoise’s perspective until it again culminates in that joyous hug, a book turn that’s made a pleasure with thick creamy paper and solid binding.
Watching unlikely friends finally be as “happy as two someones can be” feels like being enveloped in your very own hug. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-571-34875-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
A brassy, assertive fellow—young readers in the middle of their own power struggles will relate.
A tugboat’s size and might are easy to anthropomorphize; add this personified puffer to the mix.
Tough Tug is built near Seattle, made of strong steel welded together and adorned with a fresh coat of bright red paint. Wide googly eyes and a determined smile complete the look. On launch day, Tough Tug triumphantly flashes forward and backward, twirling and swirling through the water. Older tugboats (distinguished variously by mustaches, glasses, and eye patches) grumble at the youngster’s bravado. “Push and pull is what tugs do. Practice THAT.” Tough Tug’s first job is to tow a barge to Alaska. Rhythmic mantras churn across the surface of the water in bold navy letters: “Ready, steady. / Steady, ready. // Chug and tug. / Tug and chug.” But Tough Tug is overeager and challenges Arctic Tug to a race. The thrum changes to “Race and run! / Run and race!” Arctic Tug is first to Sitka, but while crossing the open ocean to Anchorage, the older tug gets into trouble. It’s Tough Tug to the rescue! McClurkan’s digital paintings look quite modern, but there is a feel to his foamy waves that recalls the mid-20th-century harbor of Little Toot. The anthropomorphized boats have plenty of personality, and readers who study the expressions on the container ships will be rewarded. An author’s note explains this was inspired by a true story of one tug rescuing another boat from a competing tugboat company.
A brassy, assertive fellow—young readers in the middle of their own power struggles will relate. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5039-5098-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Two Lions
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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