Delightful reminder that having a pet differs from parenting “a troop of teddy bears.”
Will the friendship of Stretchy McHandsome and Beanie McBright survive Beanie’s bossiness?
In this sequel to Stretchy McHandsome (2019), every McBright sibling has adopted one of the McHandsome cats. Beanie’s relationship with Stretchy, though, is special. Each of these two gingers has one green eye and one blue—but there’s more! They’re ferocious together, they stretch and scratch and curl up together. Beanie decides to make Stretchy into a perfect pet. Stretchy, however, is uninterested in learning math or dance, he hates the harness, and he’s infuriated by the stroller. The lightheartedness of the art, full of clever details for astute readers to discover, puts a comforting spin on a more serious tale. Stretchy, frightened by Beanie’s aggressive affection and enthusiasm, expresses anxiety like any real-life cat. “He acted out, he climbed the drapes, / and made the carpet wet.” Art and verse alternate between playful silliness and showing the sincere worry of a little girl learning to be gentle with her pet. The nine McBrights are illustrated as a racially diverse family with a range of skin tones and features, and one child uses a wheelchair. Beanie herself present White. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Delightful reminder that having a pet differs from parenting “a troop of teddy bears.” (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-11161-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2021
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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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