A clever tale packed with wry wit and charming illustrations.
Princess Cora, tired of her young life as a queen-in-training, asks her fairy godmother for a pet—with unexpected results.
When Princess Cora was born, the King and Queen (both white, like their daughter) exclaim over her perfection. But the realization that Cora will someday be queen turns their delight into an obsessive diligence in training Cora in dull topics punctuated by tedious exercise. Add the three-baths-a-day regime that her nanny (also white) insists on, and Cora is now one unhappy princess. Denied a pet dog, Cora writes an appeal to her fairy godmother, and the next morning finds a box at the foot of her bed containing a large crocodile. Schlitz’s dry humor is on gleeful display as the crocodile, switching places with Cora (so she can have a day off), evens the score on her behalf with the King, Queen, and nanny. The crocodile’s antics are juxtaposed against Cora’s pastoral day and enhanced by Floca’s ink, watercolor, and gouache illustrations, which superbly amplify the story’s emotional arc. All ends happily. And the crocodile? He may or may not be living in the lily pond, but Princess Cora tosses in cream puffs (the croc’s favorite thing besides chewing on people) whenever she walks her new pet dog, just in case he is.
A clever tale packed with wry wit and charming illustrations. (Illustrated fantasy. 6-9)Pub Date: March 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-4822-0
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Simple and clearly told, with a wonderfully engaging protagonist.
A poetically inclined owl learns to accept his calling.
In Kousky’s picture-book debut, Otto the oddball doesn’t roost or hunt like other owls, quietly preferring to read, befriend mice and recite poetry. When other owls in Otto’s neck of the woods discover his eccentricities, they mock him. Sensitive Otto decides to run away rather than endure their teasing and soon finds himself so lonely he composes his own poem inspired by the moonlight. When he recites his poem aloud, Otto discovers a group of field mice who have been listening and now clamor for more. Emboldened by a willing audience, Otto begins to recite Joyce Kilmer and Emily Dickinson, coming to the realization that “[p]oetry should be shared with everyone.” Such affirmation does Otto a world of good as other owls begin to find his proclivity for reciting T.S. Eliot, Robert Louis Stevenson, Christina Rossetti and the like to be infectious. Kousky’s mixed-media, digitally rendered spreads warmly depict an animated Otto and friends against the inky backdrop of the forest’s night sky. They visually encourage young readers to explore poetry as a way into relationships as opposed to isolation in a solitary creative world. Though quite Frederick-like in its poetic lure, Kousky’s individualistic paean to the communal power of art is not without its own charms.
Simple and clearly told, with a wonderfully engaging protagonist. (Picture book/poetry. 6-9)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-399-16440-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Not so different from having a “puppy” of the canine sort. Except for the stripes. And the impressive teeth.
For boys, at least, some things haven’t changed since the Stone Age.
Caveboy Trog has the best toys—a stick, a rock, a patch of mud—but they’re all instant (pre-) history when he comes upon a crocodilian “PUPPY!” and drags it home by its red-and-green–striped tail. “GOOD PUPPY!” he shouts, even when the new arrival chows down on the (stone) sofa and bed, eats the (stone) dinnerware as well as everyone’s dinner, and makes “a boo boo” on the floor (“ BAD POOPY!” chorus his less-than-enthusiastic parents). The puppy, however, does not share Trog’s joy in its new home and mopes (when it’s not eating). Despite Trog’s best efforts to distract his buddy, the puppy cries. Why? Trog finally gets a clue when a humongous version of the puppy arrives to carry its unhappy offspring back to the swamp. No more tears! Has Trog learned a lesson? Not hardly, as he’s last seen racing home with a grip on the tail of an annoyed, elephant-sized (wait for it) “KITTY!” Graves presents the tale in big, sequential panels of simply drawn cartoons, with dialogue in balloons and sound effects as outsized as Trog’s not-exactly-domesticated companions. Trog is depicted with white skin, an impressive mop of blond hair, and a one-armed fur onesie.
Not so different from having a “puppy” of the canine sort. Except for the stripes. And the impressive teeth. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: April 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62672-225-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Neal Porter/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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