Fans of chaotic humor will be pleased as punch.
A mischievous marsupial runs for elected office.
Carl, introduced in Impossible Possums (2024), returns with a fresh scheme: He’s going to become mayor, and from there, “I’ll use my new power to take over the world. MUAHAHAHAHA!” His sidekick, Philbert the penguin, is delighted to get down to business swaying human voters. Initial tactics include sloppily drawn signs and a “meat and greet.” But soon Carl decides that “desperate times call for desperate measures.” He’ll give his constituency what they want, gauging their contentment on his “happy-o-meter.” Things quickly go wrong; Philbert, who has an Amelia Bedelia–esque grasp on what his boss wants, delivers the humans “guppies” instead of puppies and “mice cream” rather than “ice cream.” And turns out, the “happy-o-meter” is a “panic-o-meter.” When Carl accidentally presses the red button, he blows his cover, and the community is horrified to discover that the candidate is in fact a possum. Readers might be confused, since Carl was actively meeting voters earlier in the story. Still, they’ll enjoy the ride. With his perpetually arched eyebrows and clad in a three-piece suit (with a fish for a tie), Carl oozes sleaze as he glad-hands and kisses babies. Rey Sanchez’s speech bubbles and digital illustrations feel like screenshots for an animated film; rife with zany energy, they’ll appeal to those making their first forays into comics.
Fans of chaotic humor will be pleased as punch. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781368099844
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2025
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
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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