Sibling rivalry and braggadocio bolster this droll competition.
One-upmanship—with an emphasis on the “up”!
To the average viewer, twin giraffes Rafi and Rita are identical. They will be quick to correct you on that point, however, since Rafi is the tall one. Or is it Rita? Wild boasts begin with factual accuracy (Rafi says the animals below him “look like bugs”; Rita points out, “They are bugs”), then swiftly veer into extraordinary territory. While Rita explains that “I’m so tall that three people have tried to climb me and had to be rescued halfway up,” Rafi counters with, “I wear clouds as hats. That’s how tall I am. Clouds.” After Rita talks about how “traumatizing” it was to almost be hit by a shooting star, their battle of the brags is interrupted from above. Mama’s there to both put them to bed and to assure them that they are her “teeny-tiny littlest lovelies.” It’s all about perspective. Adult readers should be prepared for the many vertical flips the book physically requires, as the young giraffes’ exaggerations warrant the tallest read possible. Judge’s art relies on thick black lines and bright bold colors. The giraffes may never solve the question of who the tallest is, but readers will enjoy every step of the debate.
Sibling rivalry and braggadocio bolster this droll competition. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2026
ISBN: 9781536251685
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A funny tale about stress and an ever upping ante, with a comforting end.
Something is preventing Owl from falling asleep.
Owl leans back against his white pillow and headboard. “Squeek!” says something underneath the bed. Owl’s never heard that sound before, so he fastens his pink bathrobe and answers the front door. Nobody. It must be the wind; back to bed. Bidding himself goodnight, he climbs into bed—and hears the noise again. Time after time, he pops out of bed seeking the squeaker. Is it in the cupboard? He empties the shelves. Under the floor? He pulls up his floorboards. As Owl’s actions ratchet up—he destroys the roof and smashes the walls, all in search of the squeak—so does his anxiety. Not until he hunkers down in bed under the night sky (his bed is now outdoors, because the house’s roof and walls are gone), frantically clutching his pillow, does he see what readers have seen all along: a small, gray mouse. In simple illustrations with black outlines, textured coloring, and foreshortened perspective, Pizzoli plays mischievously with mouse placement. Sometimes the mouse is behind Owl or just out of his sightline; other times, the mouse is on a solid, orange-colored page across the spread from Owl, which removes him from Owl’s scene in a rather postmodern manner. Is the mouse toying with Owl? Who knows?
A funny tale about stress and an ever upping ante, with a comforting end. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4847-1275-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
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