A stubborn pig refuses to crack a smile even as all the other farm animals are laughing at the mayhem. “A chick might snicker,” “a calf might laugh,” and “a duck might chuckle,” but riddles, silly dancing, and even fiddling can’t coax this pig to giggle. Cartoon-like illustrations rendered in watercolor and colored pencils depict the silly animals as they amuse themselves and each other with their antics. A spectacles-wearing owl, an accordion-playing turtle, and a fiddling chick are sure to tickle the funny bone of even the most serious young readers. Still, when the young boy and animals speed up their wild antics, figuring that maybe faster twirling and jumping will amuse their porcine friend, he will not laugh. It’s the pig that gets the last laugh however, because when the other animals are looking away, he offers a grin. The rhyming phrases and tongue-twisting verses will certainly challenge even the most seasoned veteran of the read-aloud. Even if the “piggy won’t giggle,” most everyone else will. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-525-46881-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A warm, comforting tale with interesting facts appended.
How do baby animals sleep?
It must be time for bed, because someone special is describing how a number of different animals go to sleep. “If I were a giant whale, / I’d sing you songs—slow epic tales. / Fin to fin, down in the deep, / We’d drift together into sleep,” the narrator explains. Bound to appeal to young animal lovers, this brief survey of animal habits shows that chicks, squirrels, giraffes, bats, otters, spiders, and gorillas all have their own special sleep styles and habits, which are presented poetically in the text as well as in brief scientific detail at the book’s end. Digitally enhanced ink-and-pencil artwork shows young animals preparing for sleep in their own particular ways, while the gentle rhymes and rhythms of the text form a sort of lullaby. These baby animals are all depicted with their mothers, setting up the expectation that the adult human scene at the end is also a mother. At the story’s conclusion, observant listeners will see that the narrator-mother and her baby (both pale-skinned) have their own bedtime habits, and they will notice that the animals previously discussed are all present in the child’s nursery in some way, shape, or form. Though the book is not entirely striking or novel—both Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny come to mind, for a start—the concluding science notes help to distinguish it.
A warm, comforting tale with interesting facts appended. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-451-46958-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A merrily-ever-after read.
Santa knows just the trick to bring his team of reindeer together for their Christmas Eve flight.
It’s Christmas Eve, and Santa (who appears to be white with light skin and white hair and is accompanied by a small dog, unnamed by the text) can’t find his reindeer. As he searches in vain, readers are treated to five spreads showing Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen cavorting about the snowy, nighttime, North Pole setting. Hillenbrand’s digital illustrations have a pleasingly soft visual aesthetic, and his text offers playful riffs on the coursers’ names: “Dasher dashed,” “Dancer danced,” and “Prancer pranced,” of course, but then Willenbrand reports that “Vixen vexed,” “Comet commented,” “Cupid crooned,” “Donner dozed,” and “Blitzen boasted.” The alliterative, assonant wordplay supports the story’s resolution, which is that the only way to get the reindeer to return to the sleigh is for Santa to call out “STORY TIME!” Then, all eight gather round “to hear their favorite story.” It is (what else?) the famous poem “A Visit From Saint Nicholas.” After thanking Santa for this gift of a story, the reindeer are hitched to the sleigh and then they take off to deliver “a merry Christmas to ALL…and to ALL a good night.”
A merrily-ever-after read. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5420-4338-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Two Lions
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
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