An introduction to the seasons with well-paced rhyming text, gentle humor, and visual charm.
A pair of pugs in parkas parades through the seasons in this picture book.
“It’s the first day of spring! / Flowers stretch toward the sun / as a couple of pugs venture out for a run.” In this jaunty rhyming tale from Stevenson and Spicer—whose picture book collaborations include Oy, Elephants! (2019) and An Armadillo on My Pillow (2020)—two irrepressible pugs proudly set out through the seasons to show off their matching, hooded parkas. A flouncy dachshund and a “studious hound” question whether spring is an appropriate time to be wearing parkas. The pugs meet similar disapproval in the summer from sea gulls and a little girl at the beach; in the autumn, a bunny and a raccoon are unimpressed. But in the winter, the pugs’ new friends, a boy with brown skin and the now-appreciative girl with light skin from the beach, compliment the canines for their choice of cold-weather attire. Children will enjoy hearing Stevenson’s bouncy rhymes and picking out verbs and nouns in each verse that are enlarged in the text and set in different colors for emphasis. Spicer’s full-color depictions of the seasons provide attractive settings for the amusing pugs and the other expressive animal and human characters. A fun touch: The penultimate page switches from the book’s horizontal format, requiring children to turn the work for a dynamic vertical image of the pugs and their friends sledding downhill.
An introduction to the seasons with well-paced rhyming text, gentle humor, and visual charm.Pub Date: July 29, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73482-420-9
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Pigs Fly Books
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
Beloved Little Blue takes a bit of the mystery—and fear—out of Halloween costumes.
A lift-the-flap book gives the littlest trick-or-treaters some practice identifying partygoers under their costumes.
Little Blue Truck and his buddy Toad are off to a party, and they invite readers (and a black cat) along for the ride: “ ‘Beep! Beep! Beep!’ / says Little Blue. / ‘It’s Halloween!’ / You come, too.” As they drive, they are surprised (and joined) by many of their friends in costume. “Who’s that in a tutu / striking a pose / up on the tiniest / tips of her toes? / Under the mask / who do you see?” Lifting the flap unmasks a friend: “ ‘Quack!’ says the duck. / ‘It’s me! It’s me!’ ” The sheep is disguised as a clown, the cow’s a queen, the pig’s a witch, the hen and her chick are pirates, and the horse is a dragon. Not to be left out, Little Blue has a costume, too. The flaps are large and sturdy, and enough of the animals’ characteristic features are visible under and around the costumes that little ones will be able to make successful guesses even on the first reading. Lovely curvy shapes and autumn colors fade to dusky blues as night falls, and children are sure to notice the traditional elements of a Halloween party: apple bobbing, lit jack-o’-lanterns, and punch and treats.
Beloved Little Blue takes a bit of the mystery—and fear—out of Halloween costumes. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: July 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-544-77253-3
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
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