If you’re going to select only one revolting, repulsive pirate book, this is arrrr-guably the best.
’Tis a bonny disgusting birthday celebration, it is!
There must be something particularly enticing to children about the average pirate’s lack of basic hygiene. How else to account for all the books containing rotten, stinky sailors? And none, let it be known, is any rottener or stinkier than Capt. Beastlie. When he’s not flicking boogers the size of cabbages or rubbing buttered toast on his already jammy jacket, the captain is counting down the days until his birthday. In the background, his remarkably clean and attentive crew is busy making preparations for the big day. When it comes, the captain is surprised to learn that before he can start celebrating, he must submit to a big bubbly bath and a combing. And his gift? A brand-new, clean-as-a-whistle pirate suit and hat. All ends well. That is, until a giant glob of frosting lands on his impeccable attire….If grown-ups can stomach the gross-out factor, there’s a lot to enjoy in Coats’ sea-worthy language (“Scupper me sardines!”) and funny story. Mould’s acrylic art makes for a clever complement, racking up the ewws but never going too far. The book is beautifully (read: disgustingly) detailed on every page.
If you’re going to select only one revolting, repulsive pirate book, this is arrrr-guably the best. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7399-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
A forgettable tale.
Dot, the smallest reindeer at the North Pole, is too little to fly with the reindeer team on Christmas Eve, but she helps Santa in a different, unexpected way.
Dot is distressed because she can’t jump and fly like the other, bigger reindeer. Her family members encourage her and help her practice her skills, and her mother tells her, “There’s always next year.” Dot’s elf friend, Oliver, encourages her and spends time playing with her, doing things that Dot can do well, such as building a snowman and chasing their friend Yeti (who looks like a fuzzy, white gumdrop). On Christmas Eve, Santa and the reindeer team take off with their overloaded sleigh. Only Dot notices one small present that’s fallen in the snow, and she successfully leaps into the departing sleigh with the gift. This climactic flying leap into the sleigh is not adequately illustrated, as Dot is shown just starting to leap and then already in the sleigh. A saccharine conclusion notes that being little can sometimes be great and that “having a friend by your side makes anything possible.” The story is pleasant but predictable, with an improbably easy solution to Dot’s problem. Illustrations in a muted palette are similarly pleasant but predictable, with a greeting-card flavor that lacks originality. The elf characters include boys, girls, and adults; all the elves and Santa and Mrs. Claus are white.
A forgettable tale. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-338-15738-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
A cozy story for cat lovers and anyone looking for a happy ending.
A piebald cat finds a new home.
To a clipped text, a little white cat with black and orange splotches cheerfully scampers through New York City. It scrambles around walking human legs in a “crowded city,” and the “speedy kitty” zips through parks and across busy streets, a dotted yellow line marking its path. The city is “noisy” and “scary,” but the kitty is “brave,” yowling at a pack of dogs from atop Patience the library lion. In that and other instances, the kitty does fine, eating a bowl of fish and performing with a jazz band, but the “cold kitty” in the “snowy city” befriends a White family that takes it home. Miller’s bold, blocky, simple illustrations effectively show an expressive and adorable cat that isn’t exactly lost but clearly wants to be found. Children might wonder where the kitty came from and why it doesn’t already have a family, which opens up opportunities for creative thinking and conversation with young readers. The clever structure, a story told entirely through two-word phrases composed of adjectives and then the nouns “kitty” and “city,” makes for a hypnotic, satisfying read-aloud experience, though the order changes after the first two pages, the only time the kitty precedes the city.
A cozy story for cat lovers and anyone looking for a happy ending. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-241442-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2021
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