Be prepared for some unusual pet requests after sharing this one.
A young child Down Under, in considering a pet, imagines all the fun they could have with a kangaroo.
Readers may recognize the brown-skinned child with their cloud of black hair, blue dress, and yellow Madeline hat from previous outings about pets (If I Had a Unicorn, 2020). This time, they would like a pet with spring: a kangaroo. Not only could the kangaroo carry the child’s backpack, but she could carry the child, too, in her pouch! She could also mow the grass (she’s an “herbivore”), deliver mail, and kick up a froth of bubbles in the bath. Not all the things the duo do together require the specific skill set of a kangaroo, though—barbecuing, dancing in the rain, and snuggling on the couch for book time—but those things are certainly nice to do with a loved pet companion. Australian vocabulary makes an occasional appearance in the rhyming verses—G’day, billabong—along with a sport from Down Under: “Kangaroos are good at sports, / so in a cricket match / she’d bowl a spinning googly… / And she’d use her pouch to catch!” (The illustration here does a pretty good job of putting this in context.) And this entry includes the series’ requisite scatological references. The child’s friends are diverse, and their parents appear to be an interracial couple. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Be prepared for some unusual pet requests after sharing this one. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: July 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-500-65268-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The runaway cookie in this Mexican bakery is a soft, brown, stubby-tailed piglet as impertinently bold and smug in his continual escape as his Gingerbread Boy cousin. “Chase me! Chase me down the street. But this is one piggy you won’t get to eat! / ¡Córrele, córrele! ¡Y Córrele más! ¡Soy el cochinito que jamás comerás!” This bouncy dual refrain extends the familiar cumulative text, rendered in both English and Spanish, as piggy manages to elude Marta the baker, Lorenzo the mechanic, Mamá Nita the beautician, Joaquín the telephone repairman and a host of other neighborhood adults—until he is outsmarted by Rosa, a little girl on her way to school, who foxily “helps him” cross the street. Safely tucked into her backpack, piggy is both a welcome surprise and an excuse for Rosa’s lateness to class. Deep opaque acrylic paintings of a colorful barrio and its residents in pursuit add the right amount of cultural flavor to this vivid Latino retelling. Recipe appended. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-55885-586-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Piñata Books/Arte Público
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2010
A terrific choice for the preschool crowd.
Little Blue Truck learns that he can be as important as the big yellow school bus.
Little Blue Truck is driving along the country road early one morning when he and driver friend Toad come across a big, yellow, shiny school bus. The school bus is friendly, and so are her animal passengers, but when Little Blue Truck wishes aloud he could do an important job like hers, the school bus says only a bus of her size and features can do this job. Little Blue Truck continues along, a bit envious, and finds Piggy crying by the side of the road, having missed the bus. Little Blue tells Piggy to climb in and takes a creative path to the school—one the bus couldn’t navigate—and with an adventurous spirit, gets Piggy there right on time. The simple, rhyming text opens the story with a sweet, fresh, old-fashioned tone and continues with effortlessly rhythmical lines throughout. Little Blue is a brave, helpful, and hopeful character young readers will root for. Adults will feel a rush of nostalgia and delight in sharing this story with children as the animated vehicles and animals in innocent, colorful countryside scenes evoke wholesome character traits and values of growth, grit, and self-acceptance. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A terrific choice for the preschool crowd. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: June 29, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-358-41224-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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