Another lively and engaging presentation from a talented pair.
One night, a spotted skunk reveals a surprising secret ability to its new friend, a porcupine.
“Call me Polecat,” says our protagonist, who has a “DOOZY of a superpower.” Porcupine knows what it is. After all, everyone’s well aware that skunks ward off predators with their stinky spray. But this species—“smaller than our striped cousins”—can do things that other skunks can’t. Polecat’s a talented—and fast—climber; plus, its spots allow it to camouflage itself. The two animals discuss their diets (Porcupine, a herbivore, blanches as the omnivorous Polecat gobbles up crickets and caterpillars) and how they evade predators. Porcupine explains that it runs off when it’s afraid; porcupines can’t shoot their quills, which stick only when something touches them. Polecat notes that before it sprays, it will “spring into a handstand,” walking on its forepaws and imitating a much larger animal, often scaring the predator away. The latest in Esbaum and Shea’s effective series (previous titles covered the parrotfish and the hoatzin bird) is another winner. Polecat’s introductory statements and its conversation with Porcupine carry all the information. The dialogue bubbles are distinctive in color and shape, making things easier for fledgling readers. Both the narrative and the colorful cartoon illustrations brim with appealing humor. These animals have plenty of personality. Though the use of the word polecat makes for clever alliteration (paired with porcupine), it might confuse readers; in some regions of the U.S., this term refers to the black-footed ferret.
Another lively and engaging presentation from a talented pair. (“True or false?” facts about polecats) (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9780593699997
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 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
Hee haw.
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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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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