Inventive, animated and irresistible.
Harry and Horsie return to battle a giant, cookie-eating robot in this winning tale that will satisfy sweet tooth and thrill-seeker alike.
Somewhere in the universe, two tummies are growling. Only cookies will satiate the ebullient Harry and his toy pal, Horsie. But in order to reach the cookie jar, the two must create the ultimate cookie-getter. A mechanical feat of colossal proportions, CookieBot marches through their metropolis, grabbing cookies from high-rises; but like Godzilla and King Kong, CookieBot goes mad. Down Fifth Avenue he stomps, gobbling confections and climbing skyscrapers until it looks like the city might face the ultimate catastrophe: no more cookies! An epic battle ensues—complete with one big sugar crash—as the heroes leave a happy (and full) public to return home and play another day. Agnew’s fantastical, retro-futuristic artwork propels this spirited adventure. Stylistically he’s true to the title’s predecessor, Harry and Horsie (2009), but compositionally he deftly changes genres, moving from a Flash Gordon–esque, sci-fi–serial approach that highlights sequential images to finding inspiration in classic, monster fantasy movies. Iconic splash pages capture the scope of Harry’s spirited imagination, while detailed illustrations offer clever, hidden humor. Once again, friendship rules for Harry and Horsie; and for Van Camp and Agnew, their seemingly seamless collaboration perfectly tells the story.
Inventive, animated and irresistible. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-197445-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
Watching unlikely friends finally be as “happy as two someones can be” feels like being enveloped in your very own hug.
What to do when you’re a prickly animal hankering for a hug? Why, find another misfit animal also searching for an embrace!
Sweet but “tricky to hug” little Hedgehog is down in the dumps. Wandering the forest, Hedgehog begs different animals for hugs, but each rejects them. Readers will giggle at their panicked excuses—an evasive squirrel must suddenly count its three measly acorns; a magpie begins a drawn-out song—but will also be indignant on poor hedgehog’s behalf. Hedgehog has the appealingly pink-cheeked softness typical of Dunbar’s art, and the gentle watercolors are nonthreatening, though she also captures the animals’ genuine concern about being poked. A wise owl counsels the dejected hedgehog that while the prickles may frighten some, “there’s someone for everyone.” That’s when Hedgehog spots a similarly lonely tortoise, rejected due to its “very hard” shell but perfectly matched for a spiky new friend. They race toward each other until the glorious meeting, marked with swoony peach swirls and overjoyed grins. At this point, readers flip the book to hear the same gloomy tale from the tortoise’s perspective until it again culminates in that joyous hug, a book turn that’s made a pleasure with thick creamy paper and solid binding.
Watching unlikely friends finally be as “happy as two someones can be” feels like being enveloped in your very own hug. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-571-34875-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
A humorous rhyming romp in which the usual fairy-tale villains are friends. (Picture book. 3-6)
Alice, the princess in the palace, loves her blankie, but it’s missing, so the search is on.
Her brother, Jack, used it as a curtain until a giant stole it to use as a hankie, until a witch flew off with it and made a cloak from it, until it was taken by…a cranky-looking dragon who happens to be snoring on it when Alice finds them. Alice is cranky herself but halts a brief blankie tug of war for a better solution: finding the dragon his own bedtime snuggly. It’s not easy. The dragon grows increasingly weepy, but he won’t snuggle with the witch’s “far too scratchy” cat, the giant’s feather pillow (it makes him sneeze), or Jack’s stinky socks. What can Alice do? A thorough search of the palace finally yields the dragon’s perfect snuggly and earns Alice a lifelong friend and protector. Muted mixed-media cartoon illustrations create rich backstories for each character combined with a sophisticated, smoothly reading rhyme scheme to produce a fast-moving friendship story that problem-solving young children will appreciate. Princess Alice, Prince Jack, and the giant present as dark-haired white characters.
A humorous rhyming romp in which the usual fairy-tale villains are friends. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0819-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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