Children might prefer the hippo, but they’ll have fun reading the poop jokes out loud to their parents again and again
Let parents who find inspiration in this book think twice.
They may think they can use the collection as an example and tell their kids, “If you want a pet, you have to write a report, preferably in verse form, on which animal is the best choice.” Like the narrator, their children may decide they’d rather have a microscope instead of a real, live pet. So a note to parents: That trick almost never works. Kids will enjoy the poems for a completely different reason: They are funny. The section about farm animals has many, many jokes about poo. The pattern is always the same. The main character thinks she might like a cow or a chicken as a pet. Then it poops on her, or maybe kicks her or pecks at her instead. The later sections of the book are more inventive, and the jokes are concomitantly cleverer. The funniest, and shortest, poem is about a hippopotamus: “Chances of getting a hippo: / zippo.” OHora’s acrylics make sure kids get the jokes, engulfing the girl in smelly, green hippo breath and gleefully depicting both excrement and icky eating habits. The microscope may seem anticlimactic after she’s looked at hippos and monkeys, but her choice makes perfect sense. Parents will find it heartwarming, since it encourages an interest in science.
Children might prefer the hippo, but they’ll have fun reading the poop jokes out loud to their parents again and again . (Picture book/poetry. 5-9)Pub Date: April 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4169-7595-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
A delightful Christmas tale that has it all—holiday cheer, joy, and a most persistent moose.
Santa tells readers about an unusual Christmas.
Santa has a job opening, since Prancer will be attending a ventriloquist convention this year. So Elmore, a moose who’s long dreamed of pulling Santa’s sleigh, applies. He writes a letter to Santa describing his qualifications: He’s a “go-getter” with a “good sense of direction” who’s mostly overcome his elf phobia. Santa agrees to meet him but immediately notices that Elmore isn’t a reindeer. Elmore is sent home but mails another letter, promising to “hit the ground running.” Invited back, Elmore accomplishes just that: He remains on the ground. Back home, Elmore writes again, apologizing for omitting the “can’t fly” thing. Believing in the power of Christmas miracles, Santa decides to give Elmore another try. But Elmore, having made several unsuccessful attempts at flying, writes another letter wishing Santa good luck finding someone else and enclosing a batch of Chocolate Moose Cookies. This time, Santa offers Elmore a different job. This comical, warmhearted story with an original twist will not only have kids giggling and rooting for Elmore; it will also confirm their belief that wonders really do happen at Christmas. Elmore’s tongue-in-cheek correspondence will elicit belly laughs. Nervous Elmore, in his necktie, cuts an endearing figure, as does gentle, brown-skinned Santa, eager to find a place for the wayward moose. Boldt’s energetic cartoon illustrations are rife with fun details; note the riotous “classified ads” in front and back endpapers. Santa’s elves are racially diverse.
A delightful Christmas tale that has it all—holiday cheer, joy, and a most persistent moose. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9780593487167
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
A solo debut for Wenzel showcasing both technical chops and a philosophical bent.
Wouldn’t the same housecat look very different to a dog and a mouse, a bee and a flea, a fox, a goldfish, or a skunk?
The differences are certainly vast in Wenzel’s often melodramatic scenes. Benign and strokable beneath the hand of a light-skinned child (visible only from the waist down), the brindled cat is transformed to an ugly, skinny slinker in a suspicious dog’s view. In a fox’s eyes it looks like delectably chubby prey but looms, a terrifying monster, over a cowering mouse. It seems a field of colored dots to a bee; jagged vibrations to an earthworm; a hairy thicket to a flea. “Yes,” runs the terse commentary’s refrain, “they all saw the cat.” Words in italics and in capital letters in nearly every line give said commentary a deliberate cadence and pacing: “The cat walked through the world, / with its whiskers, ears, and paws… // and the fish saw A CAT.” Along with inviting more reflective viewers to ruminate about perception and subjectivity, the cat’s perambulations offer elemental visual delights in the art’s extreme and sudden shifts in color, texture, and mood from one page or page turn to the next.
A solo debut for Wenzel showcasing both technical chops and a philosophical bent. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4521-5013-0
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
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