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JIMMY THE JOEY

THE TRUE STORY OF AN AMAZING KOALA RESCUE

Stories of animal rescue abound, but the cuteness factor here gives Jimmy’s story special appeal.

After being hit by a car, an orphaned 6-month-old joey is rescued, rehabilitated in a koala hospital and then a home, taught to climb and live outside with other koalas, and finally returned to the wild.

This heartwarming, true story of an irresistible marsupial, not a true bear but with all a bear cub’s appealing qualities, is illustrated with photographs taken during the filming of a documentary about the Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie, Australia. While recording the joey’s growth and development in the smoothly told narrative that accompanies the photos, the authors also weave in some general information about the species: where they live, what they eat, how they grow first inside their mothers’ pouches. The design suggests a scrapbook of the joey’s life, decorated with traditional Australian Aboriginal designs and using the colors of eucalyptus bark and patterns of eucalyptus leaves as page backgrounds. The illustrations focus on the joey; people, though vital to the animal’s recovery, are mostly out of the picture. Final pages include maps, a few facts about koalas, a photographer’s note and extensive suggestions for learning more about this iconic but little-known species. Unfortunately, these don’t include Sandra Markle’s more informative Finding Home, illustrated by Alan Marks (2008).

Stories of animal rescue abound, but the cuteness factor here gives Jimmy’s story special appeal. (Informational picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: July 9, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-4263-1371-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: National Geographic

Review Posted Online: May 14, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2013

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THE WONKY DONKEY

Hee haw.

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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

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PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

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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