Enjoyable humor with a subtle lesson about parents accepting a child who is different.
Two dogs find an egg in a nest and try to teach a newly hatched baby bird how to be a puppy.
Readers see at the opening of the book that egg and nest were left for the dogs by a mischievous, black cat. (There is no hint as to what’s happened to the mother bird.) The cat hides a note in the nest advising the dogs to sit on the nest, hatch the egg, and “teach baby to be a good dog.” The clueless canines fall for this setup, sitting on the egg through rain and snow until a tiny bluebird hatches. The bird, spotting the gray, male bulldog, immediately imprints on the dog, repeating “Ma-ma” as he looks at the dog lovingly. The male bird is dubbed Junior, and the dog parents try to teach him proper dog behaviors, such as growling and rolling over. The bird follows his own instincts, responding with “tweet”s and pulling a worm out of the ground, until the dogs finally realize their baby is really a bird. When the black cat reappears to laugh at the situation, the bird scares the cat away with an enormous “WOOF!” in huge display type. Czekaj’s digitally produced illustrations have a flat, comic-strip look, complementary to the broad humor and primary color palette. The dialogue is set off in white speech balloons in large type that will be accessible to both new readers and older readers who need a simple storyline.
Enjoyable humor with a subtle lesson about parents accepting a child who is different. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-228018-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 27, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren.
In talk-show host Fallon and illustrator Ordóñez’s latest picture-book collaboration, an elderly pooch waxes rhapsodic about a life well lived.
Observing Papa sitting in his chair watching TV all day, a young pup says, “I’m starting to think…you don’t do ANYTHING.” So Papa proceeds to list his accomplishments, both big and small, mundane and profound. Some are just a result of being older and physically bigger (being tall enough to reach a high shelf and strong enough to open jars); others include winning a race and performing in a band when he was younger. Eventually, the pup realizes that while Papa may have slowed down in his old age, he’s led a full life. The most satisfying thing about Papa’s life now? Watching his grandchild take center stage: “I can say lots of thoughts / but I choose to be quiet. / I’d rather you discover things and then try it.” Fallon’s straightforward text is sweetly upbeat, though it occasionally lacks flow, forcing incongruous situations together to fit the rhyme scheme (“I cook and I mow, / and I once flew a plane. // I play newspaper puzzles because it’s good for my brain”). Featuring uncluttered, colorful backgrounds, Ordóñez’s child-friendly digital art at times takes on sepia tones, evoking the sense of looking back at old photos or memories. Though the creators tread familiar ground, the love between Papa and his little one is palpable.
A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781250393975
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories.
Kids know vegetables can be scary, but rarely are edible roots out to get someone. In this whimsical mock-horror tale, carrots nearly frighten the whiskers off Jasper Rabbit, an interloper at Crackenhopper Field.
Jasper loves carrots, especially those “free for the taking.” He pulls some in the morning, yanks out a few in the afternoon, and comes again at night to rip out more. Reynolds builds delicious suspense with succinct language that allows understatements to be fully exploited in Brown’s hilarious illustrations. The cartoon pictures, executed in pencil and then digitally colored, are in various shades of gray and serve as a perfectly gloomy backdrop for the vegetables’ eerie orange on each page. “Jasper couldn’t get enough carrots … / … until they started following him.” The plot intensifies as Jasper not only begins to hear the veggies nearby, but also begins to see them everywhere. Initially, young readers will wonder if this is all a product of Jasper’s imagination. Was it a few snarling carrots or just some bathing items peeking out from behind the shower curtain? The ending truly satisfies both readers and the book’s characters alike. And a lesson on greed goes down like honey instead of a forkful of spinach.
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0297-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
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