Classroom chaos done right.
This feathered replacement isn’t quite up to the job.
The title’s premise may upset expectations; after all, owls—Athena’s bird—are renowned for their wisdom. In outline, the plot reprises the creators’ Alpacas Make Terrible Librarians (2024). A substitute educator runs amok until the real professional finally returns, to the kids’ heartfelt appreciation. But the details are, naturally, entirely different, starting with the bird’s nocturnal schedule, which dictates that all school activities take place after sundown. This turns out to be the easiest adjustment: It’s pajama day (or rather, night)! Everyone dons pjs except the owl, who is, shockingly, wearing nothing but a necktie and big round spectacles: “Awkward.” The kids hide their class hamster before it becomes prey and try to beat Owl in a hurdle race (the prize is no homework), only to discover that he conceals long legs in his plumage. During math class, the youngsters learn that owls can rotate their heads 270 degrees; English is painfully sidetracked by the unbearable screeching of talons on the board. Regurgitated owl pellets are the last straw for the children, but luckily their real teacher soon shows up. The energetic art ramps up the fun as the saucer-eyed students’ emotions come through clearly, likely mirroring readers’ own feelings of surprise, dismay, and disgust. Fans of the alpaca book—and everyone who enjoys a topsy-turvy day—will love this one.
Classroom chaos done right. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781957655635
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Gnome Road Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: tomorrow
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
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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