A bubbly chronicle of canine-centered events that will appeal most to children who love puppies and like-minded adult dog...
A debut kids’ chapter book about a dog-loving couple’s real-life search for the perfect pup.
Author Dory’s affection for Stanford and Samantha, her pair of chocolate Labradors, is clear from the start. In her dedication, she credits the canines with teaching her “how deep love for a pet can be.” The story is told in the third person, but photographs throughout make it clear that it’s Dory’s personal account of how she and her husband agreed that it was time “to fill the house with more noise” and get a dog. Soon, one dog became two. This first book in a planned series is written with cheerful energy and establishes the image of a strong family unit; Dory includes her grown son in the story with unmistakable pride. The tale is dominated by “Papa’s and Mama’s” search for the right breeders and dogs to fit the couple’s lifestyle. (The book advises caution in finding a breeder, but it’s disappointing that no mention is made of rescue organizations as a possible resource.) The couple prepares “as if the puppies were newborns coming home from the hospital….Lots of sleepless nights, laughter, frustration, extra patience, hugs and kisses, and more were ahead for the new parents.” There’s quite a bit of prose in that vein, and only readers who adore dogs with the same fervor are likely to find it altogether palatable. That said, the author’s spirit is infectious, and she has an engaging way with scene-setting, particularly during the couple’s road trips: “They were all ready for the adventure—city folks heading to the mountain valley and forest of Virginia in Shenandoah County with their GPS.” After a long car ride home, the two Lab puppies—“cuddly, energetic, naughty bad boy” Stanford and “independent, lovable little” Samantha—are welcomed into their new family.
A bubbly chronicle of canine-centered events that will appeal most to children who love puppies and like-minded adult dog owners.Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-692-64488-1
Page Count: 44
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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