A sweet, well-illustrated story of a happy dog and her bond with her owner.
In O’Hare’s illustrated children’s book, a dog who loves her island life must visit a veterinarian on the mainland during the Christmas season.
A pup named Quigley, who resembles a golden retriever, was born in a small town in Colorado, but after she was adopted by her owner, she moved to a small island off Washington state where she’s surrounded by the Salish Sea. To go to the mainland, she and her owner must take a ferry. Quigley loves her toys and people’s shoes, especially those that she can cuddle or chew. Most of all, she loves her owner, whom the text calls “her Person.” (The narrator asserts that dogs can smell when someone loves them.) One Christmas Day, Quigley gets sick; her Person takes her on the ferry and then to a vet’s office. When the pup has to stay there overnight, she’s confused and scared, but after she feels better, she and her Person have a happy reunion. Heikens effectively depicts Quigley, her Person, and the sea in colorful watercolor-style illustrations. O’Hare’s playful narrative features a number of questions, encouraging children to jump in with answers: “Still, Quigley can’t stop thinking: Where is her Person?” The text also takes time to teach readers a bit about where the pup protagonist lives, and features illustrations of maps. Although the overall plot is simple, the stories of Quigley’s playfulness and her vet visit may resonate with young pet owners, especially those who’ve had to leave their animal pals at the doctor’s office overnight. The book may also encourage curiosity about United States geography, as readers may want to find out more about where Quigley was born and where she currently lives.
A sweet, well-illustrated story of a happy dog and her bond with her owner.Pub Date: June 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781954780330
Page Count: 40
Publisher: O'Farm Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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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
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