A quick, whimsical way to introduce irregular plural nouns to a young audience.
A little girl learns about irregular plural nouns with the help of a friendly teacher and some mouse companions in Licari’s illustrated children’s book.
Mia is a young girl with light-colored skin and brown hair who, while playing in her backyard, befriends three little mice she names Squeaky, Nibbles, and Speedy. She runs into a problem when she tries to collectively label them: “But something seemed funny, / even strange and surreal. / When she called her friends mouses, / was that right? What’s the deal?” After her friends and family tell her that the correct plural is mice, Mia runs to her teacher, Miss Jess, and asks her to explain the grammar rules. Miss Jess gives examples of regular plural nouns, then irregular ones (like person to people), moving on to plurals that don’t change at all (like deer). With her newfound knowledge, Mia gains the confidence to speak correctly and help others with irregular plural nouns. The book maintains a consistent ABCB rhyme scheme throughout, with only occasional variances (such as an ABCDB rhyme scheme used when explaining that some plural nouns remain unchanged). For those who want to delve further into the subject, there is a companion volume, Mia’s Mouses Workbook & Coloring Book, to reinforce the lessons. While Nieto’s illustrations themselves are quite flat, with boldly colored two-dimensional characters and backgrounds, there are instances when the artist cleverly weaves the text into the pictures themselves. For example, the rule for plural nouns (“For most words it’s simple / add an ‘es’ or ‘s’/ but not all are like this, some more and some less”) is written on the actual chalkboard in Miss Jess’ classroom. This adds a fun interactive element to the story. The rhymes themselves are catchy but extremely simple, making them age-appropriate for kids at the Pre-K to kindergarten level. With only four to eight lines per page, young audiences will likely breeze right through the material and learn an important grammar rule along the way.
A quick, whimsical way to introduce irregular plural nouns to a young audience. (Juvenile fiction, ages 4-8)Pub Date: April 14, 2024
ISBN: 9781665758376
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Archway Pub
Review Posted Online: Sept. 4, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
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
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