As silly (and sweet) as a basement full of cake, with a hint more substance.
Llama’s single-minded pursuit of delicious desserts reaches new frontiers.
This third installment in the series finds Llama obsessing over the “spectacular” doughnut with extra sprinkles he ate at his birthday party yesterday. If only he could eat it again! The “rational llama of science” sets out to do exactly that. But when his new time-travel pants take him further back in time than expected, Llama finds (and eats) a different birthday doughnut, unknowingly altering the space-time continuum for his younger self. Baby Llama’s sad, lonely birthday “Long, Long Ago” without sweets—or friends to share them with—offers sympathetic context for Llama’s present-day hoarding tendencies and distrust of strangers. Both are on full display after Baby Llama and a host of other creatures from the past and present follow Llama back to his “Today” and start to destroy his home—what if his secret cake cellar is next? But when he and Baby Llama rush to protect the desserts, Llama realizes what his younger self wants even more than sweets. Tight narrative pacing, well-timed instances of onomatopoeia, and expressive, cartoonish illustrations make this an engaging read-aloud. While the narrator seems to take a dark pleasure in describing the consequences of Llama’s inability to read instructions, follow rules, or predict the consequences of his own actions (“he would pay dearly for it”), the cautionary tale elements are tempered by a reassuringly positive outcome for all llamas involved. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
As silly (and sweet) as a basement full of cake, with a hint more substance. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-77676-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Yes, the Pigeon has to go to school, and so do readers, and this book will surely ease the way.
All the typical worries and excuses kids have about school are filtered through Willems’ hysterical, bus-loving Pigeon.
Told mostly in speech balloons, the bird’s monologue will have kids (and their caregivers) in stitches at Pigeon’s excuses. From already knowing everything (except whatever question readers choose to provide in response to “Go ahead—ask me a question. / Any question!”) to fearing learning too much (“My head might pop off”), Pigeon’s imagination has run wild. Readers familiar with Pigeon will recognize the muted, matte backgrounds that show off the bird’s shenanigans so well. As in previous outings, Willems varies the size of the pigeon on the page to help communicate emotion, the bird teeny small on the double-page spread that illustrates the confession that “I’m… / scared.” And Pigeon’s eight-box rant about all the perils of school (“The unknown stresses me out, dude”) is marvelously followed by the realization (complete with lightbulb thought bubble) that school is the place for students to practice, with experts, all those skills they don’t yet have. But it is the ending that is so Willems, so Pigeon, and so perfect. Pigeon’s last question is “Well, HOW am I supposed to get there, anyway!?!” Readers will readily guess both the answer and Pigeon’s reaction.
Yes, the Pigeon has to go to school, and so do readers, and this book will surely ease the way. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-368-04645-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
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