Since she’s on a diet and only going to chow 11 of the dozen cream puffs in the box, Minnie—Cazet’s blond-shocked bovine—is going to give one to the farmer because it’s his birthday. To surprise him, she is going to hide it under his pillow. Moo—also bovine, but a tad less crazily impetuous than Minnie—is inspired to knit the farmer a sweater after a collision between a flock of sheep and a detachment of chickens carrying Elvis, the imperious rooster, in a sedan chair. The heap of sheep is stuck atop Elvis, and only knitting their wool away will uncover the fowl muckamuck. Working fast, Moo inadvertently, and unknowingly, knits Elvis into the sweater. The lumpy sweater squawks, sneezes, crawls about and even takes brief flight. Clearly, a haunted sweater. Cazet is up to his old but evergreen tricks in this latest Minnie and Moo debacle, fashioning a story of high entertainment value—dwelling in a world of supreme lunacy, yet with an agreeable dryness running through it—to keep a bunch of young noses stuck in the pleasure of a book, inhaling the words. What becomes of Elvis? Well, a rolling pin is involved. There is, after all, a weird bulge in the sweater. (Easy reader. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-06-073016-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2007
A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
Sloat collaborates with Huffman, a Yu’pik storyteller, to infuse a traditional “origins” tale with the joy of creating. Hearing the old women of her village grumble that they have only tasteless crowberries for the fall feast’s akutaq—described as “Eskimo ice cream,” though the recipe at the end includes mixing in shredded fish and lard—young Anana carefully fashions three dolls, then sings and dances them to life. Away they bound, to cover the hills with cranberries, blueberries, and salmonberries. Sloat dresses her smiling figures in mixes of furs and brightly patterned garb, and sends them tumbling exuberantly through grassy tundra scenes as wildlife large and small gathers to look on. Despite obtrusively inserted pronunciations for Yu’pik words in the text, young readers will be captivated by the action, and by Anana’s infectious delight. (Picture book/folktale. 6-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-88240-575-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2004
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