A restless meerkat’s wanderjahr lasts just six days, but that’s long enough to visit as many members of his far-flung clan. Chafing at his large family’s “Stay safe, stay together” lifestyle, Sunny packs a suitcase and goes off to visit a string of relatives, from Liberian mongoose cousins Mildred and Frank to Great Aunt Flo the marsh mongoose—oblivious to the predatory hyena struggling along behind. Unhappily, as he reports back on a set of lift-the-flap picture postcards, none of the places he visits are as warm or comfortable as his familiar old burrow, so in the end it’s back to the Kalahari. There he gets a big welcome party with a banner, hugs, a platter of yummy scorpions . . . and the frustrated hyena gets a jeering send-off. Gravett depicts the meerkats, the mongooses and their varied habitats in deftly brushed watercolors, adding lighthearted riffs (the postcard from Aunt Flo’s swamp is an ad for the “Dive-In Self-Service Restaurant”) and decorating the endpapers with faux photos and newspaper clippings. Along with humor and suspense, she folds snippets of natural history into the tale—and it’s worth noting that meerkats outdo even kittens for cuteness and personality. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-4169-3473-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
Admittedly, these animals won’t kill you, dear reader—still, it’s an awe-inspiring lineup of dangerous darlings.
“Precious-looking predators” parade their way through this rogues’ gallery of menacing cuties.
For each animal, a page touting its cuddliness precedes one focusing on its fierce features. The slow loris has poisonous fur and fangs (it’s the world’s only venomous primate), the “highly aggressive” grasshopper mouse eats scorpions and tarantulas, the hedgehog wields razor-sharp claws, the northern pygmy owl preys on animals three times its size, the penny-size bumblebee bat consumes 4,000 insects in its daily hour of hunting, and the platypus sports venomous barbs (for defeating mating rivals, not for predation). Fabulous facts about several other animals from around the world will fascinate readers, though they likely won’t frighten them; despite the title, most of these creatures aren’t deadly to humans. Indeed, wordplay such as “howl-arious,” “fur-ocious,” and “a class owl their own” may be more painful than the wounds these creatures could inflict. But the engaging, informative text, which introduces several potentially unfamiliar animals and offers a new view of well-known ones (dangerous ladybugs?!), will keep readers turning pages. Sidebars list each animal’s scientific name, size, habitat, favorite foods, and conservation status. Stylized cartoon illustrations use heavy, simplified outlines and unrealistic effects like starry eyes, while flat backgrounds let readers focus on the fuzzies. The last two pages provide actual photos of each creature.
Admittedly, these animals won’t kill you, dear reader—still, it’s an awe-inspiring lineup of dangerous darlings. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781728285290
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
Music takes center stage and bullies get properly pun-ished in this hearty and wholesome howl.
In this picture book from singer Parton and co-author Perl, a small French bulldog goes to Nashville, joins a band, fends off bullies, and meets one of the queens of country music.
Promising at the outset that this is just the first of a series of adventures starring her beloved “god-dog,” Parton goes on to hit all the conventional thematic notes. Inspired by musical dreams, Billy heads for Nashville. After a “ruff day” in which being scorned by big dogs for not being a “true muttropolitan” leaves him feeling “lower than a stick on the ground,” he eats some flowers, strums some tunes, forms a band with a trio of little dogs, and, after sending the big pooches packing, trots out a “pawsome” performance at the “Battle of the Bow-Wows.” And from there it’s on to the Grand Ole Opry to hear his big-haired favorite singer warble out lines from her song “Makin’ Fun Ain’t Funny,” about celebrating differences rather than mocking them. Haley slips those lines, along with references to “Jowlene” and “I will pawlways love you,” into painted scenes of an all-dog-or-Dolly cast set against swirls of music and simply drawn backdrops. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Music takes center stage and bullies get properly pun-ished in this hearty and wholesome howl. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: April 25, 2023
ISBN: 9780593661574
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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