With a nod to David Wiesner’s classic, The Three Pigs (2001), newcomer Gravett creates a postmodern story that can easily be enjoyed by a less sophisticated audience. A rabbit checks out a book of information on wolves from the library. As he reads, absorbed, he fails to notice a wolf stepping out of the book, ever larger and more menacing. Wolves “have bushy tails,” reads Rabbit, while trodding unaware on the wolf’s tail. The wolf creeps up on the feckless bunny until Rabbit comes upon the information that wolves eat rabbits! The rabbit is bug-eyed with alarm, while the consummate page-turn reveals the library book clawed to shreds . . . the rabbit gone. Never fear, delicate readers, there is an alternate ending in which the rabbit and the wolf, who is a vegetarian, share a sandwich. Like many postmodern picture books, the mixed-media illustrations call attention to the book itself, and establish an ironic relationship between the deadpan text and the endearingly expressive rabbit stalked by the slavering wolf. Brilliant fun. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-4169-1491-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Charming and utterly delightful.
The doggie duo make a welcome return.
In this second entry in the Doggo and Pupper early-reader series, the canine pals’ distinctive personalities come more fully to the fore, and readers discover how close they truly are. Worrywart Pupper may be afraid of giant squirrels, but he longs to be a hero like Wonder Dog, whose exploits he marvels at on TV. He also has real drumming talent, nurtured by Doggo. Doggo is fully realized as a music-loving, tenderhearted, reassuring elder statesman who always has Pupper’s back. In this outing, the pair also enjoy watching the babies in a family of neighboring nesting birds learn to fly. The dog pals’ mutual interest in music, a concert the friends plan to attend in the local park, and a helpless fledgling who hasn’t quite found its wings and requires rescuing—all these plot points culminate in a heartwarming ending that delivers a wonderful message about patience, kindness, and selflessness. Doggo and Pupper may not actually save the world here, but they do offer up a lovely reading experience for emergent readers through simple, dialogue-laden prose that beginning readers should be able to master readily. As in the first series title, the colorful collage and digital illustrations are energetic and endearing. “Pupper’s Guide to Being a Hero,” a 10-step list with suggestions such as “Be helpful” and “Share what you have,” concludes the book. Seen only briefly, the dogs’ owners appear to be light-skinned.
Charming and utterly delightful. (Chapter book. 5-8)Pub Date: March 22, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-62100-9
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
Silly reads for new readers to dig into.
A turnip-loving duck and its friends defend their garden.
Alas, the duck, sheep, dog, and donkey immediately discover the eponymous pest in the garden when it (a groundhog?) eats a row of beans. The duck is frantic that turnips are next, but instead the pest eats the sheep’s favorite crop: corn. Peas occupy the next row, and the pest gobbles them up, too. Instead of despairing, however, the donkey cries, “Yippee! He ate ALL THE PEAS!” and catching the others’ puzzled looks, continues, “I don’t like peas.” After this humorous twist, the only uneaten row is sown with turnips, and the duck leaps to devour them before the pest can do so. In a satisfying, funny conclusion, the duck beams when the dog, sheep, and donkey resolve to plant a new garden and protect it with a fence, only to find out that it will exclude not just the groundhog, but the duck, too. A companion release, What Is Chasing Duck?, has the same brand of humor and boldly outlined figures rendered in a bright palette, but its storyline doesn’t come together as well since it’s unclear why the duck is scared and why the squirrel that was chasing it doesn’t recognize the others when they turn and chase him at book’s end.
Silly reads for new readers to dig into. (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: June 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-544-94165-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
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