Though not quite as much fun as Gravel’s Disgusting Critters series, this offering will still elicit chuckles from the...
Snaggle-toothed, asymmetrical, bug-eyed monsters abound in this not-so-subtle “A pet is a big responsibility” primer.
From the moment the protagonist starts obsessing over owning a monster, her father is doomed. To ensure a visit to the Monsterium, she wields some well-honed weapons. First there’s the tweaking of parental guilt: “All my friends have pet monsters.” Then she fires off enthusiastic promises to parental questions: “And who will pick up the monster poo?” / “I will!” The various candidates up for adoption have appropriately cutesy names such as Froops, Foffles, and Pooples. The winner is a barking Oogly-Wump that smells like pirates’ feet. After Papa names him Gus, the baby monster proceeds to swim in the toilet and eat Papa’s cellphone. When the maturing monster becomes despondent, the overenthusiastic protagonist’s solution is hair-raising. The easy-to-follow dialogue is corralled within speech bubbles, and most of the cartoony digital illustrations are placed against graph-paper backdrops, bringing to mind a child's journal entries. The abundance of rainbow-hued monsters suggests that Gravel probably had a grand time flinging darts at a color wheel. Both the girl and her father are melanin-enriched, and the other children featured are also diverse. Included at the end of the story are five brief interactive exercises that range from monster naming to monster training.
Though not quite as much fun as Gravel’s Disgusting Critters series, this offering will still elicit chuckles from the younger set. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 15, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-241533-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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
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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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