This rhythmic, imaginative romp practically reads itself aloud.
Zoo animals of every size work together to turn an abandoned mall into a new zoo.
Takoda the anthropomorphic tiger cub thinks the old building and grounds would make a wonderful zoo. (It’s entirely unclear why a new one’s warranted, as these animals seem to be self-governing, with no humans in sight.) His fellow animals are up to the challenge, and readers will be too as they count the animals on each page: “Two rough, tough rhinos” with bulldozers, three lemurs with paint rollers, four oryx cutting windows, etc. But the rhinos spurn the insects when they offer their help: “ ‘You bugs are too small.’ / ‘You’re pests. You’re annoying. / You don’t count at all.’ ” Before long the amusement park–like zoo is complete, but a new problem arises: Those rhinos won’t share the water slide. “Then silently, stealthily, down from the sky…” it’s bugs to the rescue, proving to even the rhinos that everyone counts. The final spread is a riot of fun as the animals enjoy the slide, and those with good eyes and some patience will be able to spy the insects. Don’t miss the jokes on the endpapers (adults will surely hear them multiple times). Sierra’s rollicking rhymes are fun to read aloud and listen to, and Brown’s gouache and pencil illustrations give children lots of details to pore over, but it doesn’t do for counting what the team’s Wild About Books (2004) did for reading.
This rhythmic, imaginative romp practically reads itself aloud. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-64620-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 25, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note.
Little Honey Bunny Funnybunny loves baseball almost as much as she loves her big brother P.J.—though it’s a close-run thing.
Readers familiar with the pranks P.J. plays on his younger sibling in older episodes of the series (most illustrated by Roger Bollen) will be amused—and perhaps a little confused—to see him in the role of perfect big brother after meeting his swaddled little sister for the first time in mama’s lap. But here, along with being a constant companion and “always happy to see her,” he cements his heroic status in her eyes by hitting a home run for his baseball team and then patiently teaching her how to play T-ball. After carefully coaching her and leading her through warm-up exercises, he even sits in the stands, loudly cheering her on as she scores the winning run in her own very first game. “‘You are the best brother a bunny could ever have!’” she burbles. This tale’s a tad blander compared with others centered on P.J. and his sister, but it’s undeniably cheery, with text well structured for burgeoning readers. The all-smiles animal cast in Bowers’ cartoon art features a large and diversely hued family of bunnies sporting immense floppy ears as well as a multispecies crowd of furry onlookers equally varied of color, with one spectator in a wheelchair.
A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note. (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9798217032464
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
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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