Never have expectations been more thoroughly set up, and then gleefully confounded.
Ever a guilty pleasure anyway, the popular but violent preschool hand rhyme takes a gothic turn in this startling iteration.
Doerrfeld concocts an oh-so-sweet visual story line for the lyric, setting a snub-nosed, big-eyed bunny baker off in pursuit of a crew of cute little cupcake rustlers. At first Little Bunny delivers only gentle cuffs with her oven mitt as she recovers the cupcakes, and she shows remorse when the pink-haired, pink-cheeked Good Fairy descends to warn that she’ll be turned into a monster if she keeps it up. But as the mice, joined by several birds and squirrels, continue to snatch bites, Foo Foo’s mild annoyance intensifies to such outright rage that the climactic transformation definitely turns out to be a tactical mistake on the Good Fairy’s part. Bright, simply painted pictures set the chase on a pleasant sward with an open, woodsy backdrop populated by relentlessly adorable little creatures, none of whom appear to be more than momentarily discomforted by all that bopping.
Never have expectations been more thoroughly set up, and then gleefully confounded. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3470-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2011
PROFILES
Unusual and strikingly lovely black-and-white illustrations can’t save a problematic storyline.
A dog nudges her way out the door of her human’s home to investigate the night.
As Dog explores, she encounters and befriends “someone WILD,” illustrated as a wolf or perhaps a coyote. They chase a rabbit together, and when daylight comes, Dog, all tuckered out, falls asleep back home. The striking thing about this story is the unusual black-and-white illustrations that are created using brushed graphite powder, pencil, and erasure on paper. Their soft, atmospheric mood and their design and distribution—full-bleed double-page spreads, single-page bleeds, and, particularly, a few stellar sequences in which multiple iterations of characters denote action—show author/illustrator Poster’s skill in telling a story with pictures. Unfortunately, the story itself has problems. Since the animals—raccoons, a bear, rabbits, the coyote or wolf, among others—are depicted behaving as animals do and not anthropomorphically, the story can’t be interpreted as a fantasy. And to romanticize a scenario in which a small domestic dog encountering a larger, wild canine would have a romp and a bit of friendship is fundamentally misleading. In the real nighttime world, the dog would more likely become the other canine’s dinner, so here’s hoping readers won’t take it into their heads to send their pet dog or cat out into the night to have a lovely adventure. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Unusual and strikingly lovely black-and-white illustrations can’t save a problematic storyline. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: April 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-525-55378-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
Easy laughs.
An extraterrestrial who looks like a dog tries to prove his mettle by conquering Earth.
Bloop, a green ET that resembles a pug with antennae, is next in line to rule Planet XYZ. He tries but fails to follow the emperor’s “rules, regulations, and robots,” but the illustrations show the chaos that follows in Bloop’s chaotic, albeit joyful, wake. “Bloop! Too many bloopers” the emperor proclaims and banishes Bloop to the “crazy planet” Earth. Readers can assume the emperor is Bloop’s father, given the resemblance. If Bloop can conquer Earth, the emperor reasons, his worthiness to rule XYZ will be proved. Bright colors and characterizations in a cartoon-esque style take center stage. On Earth, Bloop has trouble reigning supreme. Bloop interprets the way humans care for dogs as an indicator that dogs rule the planet, so he focuses on learning their secrets. Sadly, the dogs pay no attention to him, and Bloop is still making “too many bloopers” according to the emperor. He commands Bloop to pretend he’s an Earth dog. In the end, Bloop must choose between his cushy new home where he rules the roost—and receives plenty of love and affection—and his old world. It’s no contest. Bloop’s human family appears to be interracial, with a Black father, White mother, and mixed-race child.
Easy laughs. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: July 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-287160-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
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