Not too amusing, not too original, not too necessary.
Teddy is a large, gray-brown dog who enjoys his life as “leader of the pack,” until he receives the unwanted present of a cat companion.
The big dog’s first-person narrative is written in an overconfident, boastful tone, presenting him as “charming and fetching,” though he is proud to say he “never actually fetches.” He never takes off his sunglasses as he moves from one mischievous mess to another: upending a hot dog stand, putting his paw prints on a freshly painted house, and getting into the neighbor’s trash can. But Teddy’s life changes when his aunt sends him a huge package containing a cat that needs a new home. Teddy tries to indoctrinate Penelope the cat in his idea of proper (canine) behavior, but she has her own way of doing things. In a characterization-defying conclusion, Teddy decides to cooperate, take a nap with the cat in his favorite armchair, and bump paws together, which he considers acting like a cat. Teddy’s annoying, superior attitude falls flat, as he just seems full of himself rather than funny. Bold cartoon-style illustrations provide some humor with Teddy’s antics, but he never really comes alive as a character due to the sunglasses covering his eyes in all the illustrations. Penelope, or Fishbreath as Teddy calls her, has more personality, but she is unbelievably pliant for a newly arrived cat.
Not too amusing, not too original, not too necessary. (Picture book.3-7)Pub Date: May 31, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-238283-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2016
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
A disappointing follow-up.
Inventor Izzy Gizmo is back in this sequel to her eponymous debut (2017).
While busily inventing one day, Izzy receives an invitation from the Genius Guild to their annual convention. Though Izzy’s “inventions…don’t always work,” Grandpa (apparently her sole caregiver) encourages her to go. The next day they undertake a long journey “over fields, hills, and waves” and “mile after mile” to isolated Technoff Isle. There, Izzy finds she must compete against four other kids to create the most impressive machine. The colorful, detail-rich illustrations chronicle how poor Izzy is thwarted at every turn by Abi von Lavish, a Veruca Salt–esque character who takes all the supplies for herself. But when Abi abandons her project, Izzy salvages the pieces and decides to take Grandpa’s advice to create a machine that “can really be put to good use.” A frustrated Izzy’s impatience with a friend almost foils her chance at the prize, but all’s well that ends well. There’s much to like: Brown-skinned inventor girl Izzy is an appealing character, it’s great to see a nurturing brown-skinned male caregiver, the idea of an “Invention Convention” is fun, and a sustainable-energy invention is laudable. However, these elements don’t make up for rhymes that often feel forced and a lackluster story.
A disappointing follow-up. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68263-164-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
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