This yippy, yappy Yorkie is just another tired puppy in search of a plot.
Macomber and Carney team up for their second entry in the Blossom Street Kids series, this time focusing on an unwanted move to a new neighborhood for a girl named Ellen and her Yorkshire terrier named Baxter.
Ellen is reluctant to leave her familiar house, her friends and the local shop owners she has befriended, including the yarn shop where she learned to knit. Once settled in their new house, her woes increase when Baxter the Yorkie escapes from the back yard while wearing the bright green sweater that Ellen knit for him. Ellen and her mother visit the shops in their new neighborhood, repeating over and over to each owner in turn, “Have you seen a yippy, yappy Yorkie in a green doggy sweater?” They find Baxter in the flower shop, where he has found a Yorkie friend for himself and her owner, a little girl who befriends Ellen. The story is completely predictable and nearly devoid of any suspense or humor, and even the two Yorkies don’t offer much spunk to spice things up. Soft-focus watercolor illustrations convey Ellen’s sad feelings, but there is little motion or excitement, just pretty rooms and shops and a tiny dog that fades into the backgrounds rather than driving the action.
This yippy, yappy Yorkie is just another tired puppy in search of a plot. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-165096-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2011
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Quirky, familiar fun for series devotees.
After Duncan finds his crayons gone—yet again—letters arrive, detailing their adventures in friendship.
Eleven crayons send missives from their chosen spots throughout Duncan’s home (and one from his classroom). Red enjoys the thrill of extinguishing “pretend fires” with Duncan’s toy firetruck. White, so often dismissed as invisible, finds a new calling subbing in for the missing queen on the black-and-white chessboard. “Now everyone ALWAYS SEES ME!…(Well, half the time!)” Pink’s living the dream as a pastry chef helming the Breezy Bake Oven, “baking everything from little cupcakes…to…OTHER little cupcakes!” Teal, who’s hitched a ride to school in Duncan’s backpack, meets the crayons in the boy’s desk and writes, “Guess what? I HAVE A TWIN! How come you never told me?” Duncan wants to see his crayons and “meet their new friends.” A culminating dinner party assembles the crayons and their many guests: a table tennis ball, dog biscuits, a well-loved teddy bear, and more. The premise—personified crayons, away and back again—is well-trammeled territory by now, after over a dozen books and spinoffs, and Jeffers once more delivers his signature cartooning and hand-lettering. Though the pages lack the laugh-out-loud sight gags and side-splittingly funny asides of previous outings, readers—especially fans of the crayons’ previous outings—will enjoy checking in on their pals.
Quirky, familiar fun for series devotees. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 9780593622360
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
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BOOK REVIEW
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