by Gay Hay ; illustrated by Margaret Tolland ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2017
Who knew a gecko’s life could be so thrilling? (Informational picture book. 4-8)
Green Gecko moves through its morning on high alert, narrowly escaping a predatory bird.
The initial double-page spread reflects the high quality of artwork and layout throughout the book. The gecko that suns itself among branches laden with pale, unidentified flowers is not anthropomorphized, from its nonhuman eyeballs to its textured, dappled-green skin. Simple text informs readers that Gecko has arisen with the dawn and is now “basking in the treetops, soaking up the sun.” With each page turn, nongendered Gecko sports a different body position and/or mouth detail. The art supports minimal, loosely rhythmic text that uses many different verbal phrases to describe both the lizard’s movements in its environment and its methods of gathering food and drink for its mostly insectivorous diet. Every page includes, in bold print, “Watching out for danger,” followed by how that is done—as in “looking here and there” or “looking up and down.” A clever foldout—inspiration for the book’s title—precedes Gecko’s quick retreat after a bird, represented by a glimpse of a huge blue wing, threatens it. The text here bears similarity to the tried-and-true “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt,” offering opportunities for participation. Observant children will notice how close Gecko comes to being captured. Disappointingly, the scientific facts at the end do not mention the phenomenon of tail regeneration.
Who knew a gecko’s life could be so thrilling? (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-76036-033-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Starfish Bay
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
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by Gay Hay ; illustrated by Margaret Tolland
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by Gay Hay ; illustrated by Margaret Tolland
by James Dean ; illustrated by James Dean ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 18, 2018
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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by Kimberly Dean ; illustrated by James Dean
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by James Dean & Kimberly Dean ; illustrated by James Dean
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by Joan Holub ; illustrated by James Dean
by Craig Smith ; illustrated by Katz Cowley ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2010
Hee haw.
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The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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by Craig Smith ; illustrated by Katz Cowley
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by Doug MacLeod ; illustrated by Craig Smith
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by Adam Osterweil and illustrated by Craig Smith
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