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The Adventures of Petey Pots and Pans

Name: The Adventures of Petey Pots and Pans
Author: Lotfi Bashir
ISBN: 978-1493120079

by Lotfi Bashir ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 25, 2013

An engaging title for kids with an important lesson, only slightly hampered by its thin, confusing setting.

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In Bashir’s debut children’s book, a little dog struggles with his unusual name.

Petey Pots and Pans is a Chihuahua with an odd appellation, even for a dog. He lives with his human owners and another canine named Ducky Bobby. One day, he comes home “very upset from school,” and over the next few days, he endeavors to avoid going back. At the same time, he refuses to tell Ducky Bobby or his parents what the matter is. Finally, he admits that “[a]ll the kids at school laugh when the teacher calls my name.” His human “mama” comforts him, and tells him a story about a little boy with an unusual name who grew up to become president of the United States. The story apparently refers to President Barack Obama, although it never clearly spells the reference out. Kids who are familiar with the current president will be delighted to make the connection, but later generations may not see it as readily, so Petey’s conversation with his mama may lose some significance in future readings. Similarly, Petey and Ducky Bobby go to school like human children, but it’s never clearly established that they’re stand-ins for kids, or whether they live in a world in which dogs also go to school, the same way that children do. Beyond these puzzling touches, however, the book has a lot to offer. The overall premise is intriguing, and many children will be able to relate to it. The book’s fun format features rhymed, blue text, coupled with color photos of dogs in poses that match the story’s context. Illustrations of dogs and bones also frame each page. As a result, children will enjoy paging through this book to look at the pictures, even if some of its plot needs further explanation.

An engaging title for kids with an important lesson, only slightly hampered by its thin, confusing setting.

Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2013

ISBN: 978-1493120079

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Lulu

Review Posted Online: March 3, 2015

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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SPOOKY POOKIE

by Sandra Boynton ; illustrated by Sandra Boynton ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 7, 2015

A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character.

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One of Boynton's signature characters celebrates Halloween.

It's Halloween time, and Pookie the pig is delighted. Mom helps the little porker pick out the perfect Halloween costume, a process that spans the entire board book. Using an abcb rhyme scheme, Boynton dresses Pookie in a series of cheerful costumes, including a dragon, a bunny, and even a caped superhero. Pookie eventually settles on the holiday classic, a ghost, by way of a bedsheet. Boynton sprinkles in amusing asides to her stanzas as Pookie offers costume commentary ("It's itchy"; "It's hot"; "I feel silly"). Little readers will enjoy the notion of transforming themselves with their own Halloween costumes while reading this book, and a few parents may get some ideas as well. Boynton's clean, sharp illustrations are as good as ever. This is Pookie's first holiday title, but readers will surely welcome more.

A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character. (Board book. 1-3)

Pub Date: July 7, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-553-51233-5

Page Count: 18

Publisher: Robin Corey/Random

Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
A DANCE WITH SANTA CLAUS
by Sandra Boynton ; illustrated by Sandra Boynton

- BOOK REVIEW
HIPPOS REMAIN CALM
by Sandra Boynton ; illustrated by Sandra Boynton

- BOOK REVIEW
WOO HOO! YOU'RE DOING GREAT!
by Sandra Boynton ; illustrated by Sandra Boynton

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OTIS

From the Otis series

by Loren Long & illustrated by Loren Long ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2009

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Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)