There’s room for improvement in Augusta’s latest caper, but these dogs have so much fun readers will still howl for more.
A plunderin’, pillagin’ pup takes down some pretty paw-some pirates.
Having already proved herself to be saucy, bold, and selfless in her previous adventure (Bad Pirate, 2015), sea pup Augusta Garrick now faces an even bigger challenge. Her father, Capt. Barnacle Garrick, has discovered his booty has been plundered by a pack of mangy sea cats. To recover the treasure undetected, the captain advises everyone to be “rotten,” “sneaky,” and “brainy.” Trouble is, Augusta has a penchant for “fancies,” and her accessorizing does not sit well with her pa. A little dab of vanilla proves her undoing, and she’s thrown in the brig to avoid botching a raid with her scent. Fortunately, brains, sneakiness, and the rotten smell of fanciness save her crewmates from those tricky kitties. Though this sequel lacks the coherency of its predecessor (how Augusta gets the key to spring her shipmates and herself from the brig is left unclear), once again it’s a jolly relief to see a female pirate with so much oomph and initiative. As ever, Griffiths’ art proves inventive, whether he’s rendering a seagoing whippet or a beard on the feline Capt. Fishmonger that Blackbeard himself would envy.
There’s room for improvement in Augusta’s latest caper, but these dogs have so much fun readers will still howl for more. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-927485-80-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Pajama Press
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
Too many bugs, figuratively.
Lucy, “the youngest member of a family of fireflies,” must overcome an irrational, moon-induced anxiety in order to leave her family tree trunk and glow.
The first six pages pull readers into a lush, beautiful world of nighttime: “When the sun has set, silence falls over the Big Forest, and all of the nighttime animals wake up.” Mixed media provide an enchanting forest background, with stylized flora and fauna eventually illuminated by a large, benign moon, because the night “doesn’t like to catch them by surprise.” Turning the page catches readers by surprise, though: the family of fireflies is decidedly comical and silly-looking. Similarly, the text moves from a lulling, magical cadence to a distinct shift in mood as the bugs ready themselves for their foray into the night: “They wave their bottoms in the air, wiggle their feelers, take a deep, deep breath, and sing, ‘Here we go, it’s time to glow!’ ” It’s an acceptable change, but more unevenness follows. Lucy’s excitement about finally joining the other bugs turns to “sobbing” two nights in a row. Instead of directly linking her behavior to understandable reactions of children to newness, the text undermines itself by making Lucy’s parents’ sweet reassurances impotent and using the grandmother’s scientific explanation of moonlight as an unnecessary metaphor. Further detracting from the story, the text becomes ever denser and more complex over the book’s short span.
Too many bugs, figuratively. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-84-16147-00-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cuento de Luz
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2015
Lively fun that all readers will enjoy, snug in their own rugs and everywhere else.
A snug pug attempts to pull the plug on a rug-smuggling bug.
A smug bug usurps Pug’s rug, desiring to make it his own. Bug quickly dispatches Pug and settles on said rug, thinking all’s well—but his clever ruse backfires when Pug soon returns, furious at his ouster. Along comes…another character whose name, fittingly, sounds like that of our two protagonists. A rhyming war of words erupts between Pug and Bug—but (spoiler alert) Slug arbitrates and helps the sparring duo understand each other and offer apologies. All agree that nothing’s so snug as friendship and happily share the rug. In a final twist, a surprise visitor, whose name doesn’t rhyme with the others’, arrives and is welcomed warily. This is a pleasing, comical story about finding common ground, owning mistakes, and accepting differences. Readers will enjoy the hilarious proceedings conveyed through jaunty rhymes that scan well and the characters’ expressive mugging. Rhyming words and opportunities for rich vocabulary development are real draws. Kids will appreciate the smoothly delivered ways –ug words, as well as other common phonemic patterns, are used (aghast/fast; growls/howls/scowls, small/tall, stick/quick). The dynamic, energetic illustrations are attention-grabbers, as are occasional onomatopoeic words set in larger colored fonts. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Lively fun that all readers will enjoy, snug in their own rugs and everywhere else. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-53411-147-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2022
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