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MONK CAMPS OUT

Monk’s first camping experience is difficult, especially for his parents. When Monk decides that tonight is perfect for his first camp out in the back yard, his doting parents agree, but need his reassurance that he’ll be OK. When he has trouble pitching his tent, they help “only a little.” Monk isn’t home for dinner, so they bring him some camp grub in a lunch box. Dinner is lonely, and the evening is long. They just have to give him a good night hug and kiss and stay up until he decides to come in. Meanwhile, Monk is having a fine time and rejects his parents’ suggestion that he come inside. During the night, Monk wakes up and needs his mitt. His parents who have been sleeping in their living room wake up and need to make sure he’s all right. In a delightful two-page spread, McCully (Outlaw Thanksgiving, 1998) shows Monk coming into the front door, as his parents are going out the side door. They all trade places. Monk sleeps in his mother’s chair. His parents sleep outside the tent and when they meet in the morning Monk proudly announces that he camped out all night by himself. Parents will enjoy reading this affectionate view of their concerns about the growing independence of their offspring. Younger children will like the story and the older ones will get the inside joke. McCully’s pen and ink and watercolor illustrations tell the story with humor and charm and round out the spare text. (Picture book. 46)

Pub Date: April 1, 2000

ISBN: 0-439-09976-5

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2000

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I LOVE YOU, LITTLE POOKIE

From the Little Pookie series

An unabashed love letter from mother.

A sweet celebration of the bond between a mother and her Pookie.

The eighth installment in this always charming series eschews the episodic drama and silliness of earlier outing such as Spooky Pookie (2015) in favor of a mom’s-eye-view celebration of her child and the time they spend together. There is, of course, nothing wrong with drama and silliness. But while the lack of conflict and plot in favor of unapologetic sentiment makes this book a quick read, that doesn’t make it any less endearing. The rhymed verse captures a mother’s wonder as she observes the many facets of her child’s personality: “Ah, Pookie. My little one. My funny one. My child. // Sometimes you are quiet. Sometimes you are wild.” On the simple joys of shared moments, she notes, “I love to go walking with you by my side. / I love when we sing when we go for a ride. // And I love just to watch as you think and you play. / The way that you are is a wonderful way.” Paired with author/illustrator Boynton’s irresistible renderings of a porcine mommy and her playful, snuggly little piglet, the result is impossible to fault. Whether quietly reading, running in a tiger suit, singing with mom in the car, ears flapping in the breeze, or enjoying the safety of mom’s embrace, Pookie’s appeal continues unabated.

An unabashed love letter from mother. (Board book. 1-4)

Pub Date: Dec. 4, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-5344-3723-4

Page Count: 18

Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Dec. 4, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019

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THE GOOD DOG

When the wild calls, will this good dog answer? For McKinley the malamute is a very good dog, one who takes his contract with his humans seriously: he assiduously guards his human family, especially the pup, Jack. He is also a politically astute dog: he is head dog of the Steamboat Springs dog pack. His retriever friend Aspen, had she the language of pop psychology, would call him a codependent dog: “You watch out for everybody but yourself.” His comfortable life is disturbed when a lamed wolf, Lupin, comes down out of the hills to recruit dogs to join her dwindling pack. McKinley feels drawn to her wildness, while at the same time remaining mindful of his doggy responsibilities. These become immensely more complicated when his pup (inspired by The Jungle Book and Julie of the Wolves) decides to try to run away and live with the wolves even as the human community gears up for a massive wolf hunt and an upstart Irish setter begins to challenge McKinley’s leadership. How can McKinley acquit his obligations to his pup, to Lupin, and to an abused greyhound whose escape sets the plot in motion, while at the same time preserving his position in the pack? Avi (The Secret School, p. 1021, etc.) by and large does a creditable job of keeping the many subplots going, although the action occasionally gets bogged down in discussions of the political doggy climate. The narrative is filtered through a dog’s-eye-view with occasional whimsical touches (streets have names like “Horse Smell Way”), but for the most part the text takes itself as seriously as McKinley does. Almost wholly absent from the story is a real exploration of the mutual affection that underlies the human-dog relationship; without this, McKinley’s decision to stay with his humans rather than follow Lupin is an intellectual, and ultimately unsatisfying, one. (Fiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001

ISBN: 0-689-83824-7

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Richard Jackson/Atheneum

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2001

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