Granny Gomez lives in a large house out in the country. She likes her flowers, her jigsaw puzzles and having enough space for her drums and mountain-climbing gear…but sometimes she is lonely. Her friend William decrees that she needs a pet (but not just any pet). The next morning there’s a pink piglet on her porch. Granny’s not sure about a pig in the house, but to save him from the bacon farm and because he’s so cute, she decides to give it a try. Jigsaw turns out to be a great pet, but he doesn’t stay small forever. Broken back steps convince Granny something must be done. When she builds him a barn that’s just as big as her house, she’s lonely again at night. It turns out, however, that Granny Gomez is a granny with an innovative solution to every problem. Underwood’s sweet tale of loneliness and companionship is brought to pudgy, smiling life by Magoon’s watercolor-and-ink illustrations. A solid addition to any collection. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 9, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7868-5216-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
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