A delightful domestic debacle with pictures to pore over and many bunnies to count.
A two-for-the-price-of-one sale at the pet store challenges a resourceful family to cope with the inevitable consequences.
Hardly have Owen, Zoey, and their dad had time to feel amazed before their two new rabbits have turned into 210, nibbling on the furniture and leaving “little chocolate eggs” all over. It’s time for a grand, if occasionally ruthless, giveaway—but after leaving one with a passing juggler, slipping two into an unsuspecting neighbor’s mail slot, dropping three into the instrument case of a distracted street musician, and so on up to tying the last 20 to balloons, the children are dismayed to discover that there are none left. And so it’s back to the pet store…just in time to take advantage of a two-for-one sale on ferrets! Aside from looking for a message, if any, buried in the silliness, the chief fun of this Italian import will be counting the orange bunnies in Benetti’s duotone illustrations—they’re all there, each individually drawn and engaged, singly or in bunches, in tomfoolery. Human figures, rendered in grayscale, are mostly light-skinned, but there are also a few who are darker-complexioned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A delightful domestic debacle with pictures to pore over and many bunnies to count. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-63655-054-1
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Red Comet Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Totes adorbs.
A cuddly, squishy pug’s puggy-wuggy diary.
Equipped with both #pugunicorn and #pughotdog outfits, pug Baron von Bubbles (aka Bub) is the kind of dog that always dresses to impress. Bub also makes lots of memorable faces, such as the “Hey, you’re not the boss of me!” expression aimed at Duchess, the snooty pink house cat. Some of Bub’s favorite things include skateboarding, a favorite teddy, and eating peanut butter. Bub also loves Bella, who adopted Bub from a fair—it was “love at first sniff.” Together, Bub and Bella do a lot of arts and crafts. Their latest project: entering Bella’s school’s inventor challenge by making a super-duper awesome rocket. But, when the pesky neighborhood squirrel, Nutz, makes off with Bub’s bear, Bub accidentally ruins their project. How will they win the contest? More importantly, how will Bella ever forgive him? May’s cutesy, full-color cartoon art sets the tone for this pug-tastic romp for the new-to–chapter-books crowd. Emojilike faces accentuate Bub’s already expressive character design. Bub’s infectious first-person narration pushes the silly factor off the charts. In addition to creating the look and feel of a diary, the lined paper helps readers follow the eight-chapter story. Most pages have fewer than five sentences, often broken into smaller sections. Additional text appears in color-coded speech bubbles. Bella presents white.
Totes adorbs. (Fiction. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-53003-2
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
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