A charming story of friendship, dance moves, artistic fervor and squirrels.
Mario is a squirrel who loves his dance moves, from the “Bowling Ball” to “Twirly Ballet Arms,” and his relatives assure him he is amazing.
He believes them. His friend, blue–tutu-and-glasses-sporting Isabelle, however, dismisses his dance moves as “nice:” “ ‘NICE?’ said Mario. ‘I think you mean amazing. Or astonishing, maybe.’ ‘Hmmm,’ said Isabelle.” When she informs Mario that anyone can have a move, he’s devastated. He decides his new creative pursuit will be finding and displaying sticks… amazing sticks. He labels his sticks “Scratchy,” “Twiggles” and “Plain Jane.” When Isabelle realizes she’s driven her friend to these sticky extremes, she feels bad about the “nice” and switches it to a “elegant.” She adds “graceful.” In a harmonious denouement, the two squirrels mash their dance moves and invent the “Even More Amazingly Amazing Amazer.” (“And everyone was amazed.”) In one sense the story is about pursuing one’s own passion, no matter what others say or don’t say about it. It’s also about a friend who realizes the power of the wrong word at the wrong time and takes it back. Warm, winning gouache illustrations reflect soft autumnal landscapes populated by cartoonish animals and are juxtaposed with comically elaborate diagrams of various dance moves, some detailed on cut-out graph paper.
A charming story of friendship, dance moves, artistic fervor and squirrels. (And squirrel facts!) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 8, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-375-86854-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Feb. 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012
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A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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