This sweet story of Pickles won’t tickle everyone’s fancy, but overall it’s an amusing if lightweight story about an unusual...
When a miniature pig named Pickles needs a blood transfusion, his owners purchase a full-size pig that then needs to find a permanent home.
In this story based on true events, Pickles narrates his own story of adoption into a family where he is a pampered pet. He learns to play with friendly dogs and how to surf, jump over a barricade, and paint his own pictures. Then one day he gets very sick and needs a blood transfusion. His family purchases a pig for the blood supply and Pickles is saved, but the new, 650 pound pig, named Tickles, needs somewhere to live. The family finds Tickles a permanent home on a farm, where she is visited by Pickles and her family’s new pet, a puppy named Dill. (Dill, Pickles, get it?) The story is illustrated with photographs of the undeniably charming little pig, who has a snout that is half pink and half black. The big pig is also appealing in her own way, especially in several photographs at her new home on the farm. The concept of a blood transfusion from one pig to another may be over the heads of the intended audience, but the idea of a pet pig in the house will probably appeal to most preschoolers, if not their parents. An author’s note explains the circumstances of the little pig’s illness and his treatment.
This sweet story of Pickles won’t tickle everyone’s fancy, but overall it’s an amusing if lightweight story about an unusual type of pet. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3662-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
A $16.99 Mother’s Day card for cat lovers.
The team of Costain and Lovšin (Daddies are Awesome, 2016) gives moms their due.
Rhyming verses tell of all the ways moms are amazing: “Mommies are magic. / They kiss away troubles… // …find gold in the sunlight / and rainbows in bubbles.” Moms are joyful—the best playmates. They are also fearless and will protect and soothe if you are scared. Clever moms know just what to do when you’re sad, sporty moms run and leap and climb, while tender moms cuddle. “My mommy’s so special. / I tell her each day… // … just how much I love her / in every way!” Whereas dads were illustrated with playful pups and grown-up dogs in the previous book, moms are shown as cats with their kittens in myriad colors, sizes, and breeds. Lovšin’s cats look as though they are smiling at each other in their fun, though several spreads are distractingly cut in half by the gutter. However delightful the presentation—the verse rolls fairly smoothly, and the cats are pretty cute—the overall effect is akin to a cream puff’s: very sweet and insubstantial.
A $16.99 Mother’s Day card for cat lovers. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62779-651-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children.
Social-equity themes are presented to children in ABC format.
Terms related to intersectional inequality, such as “class,” “gender,” “privilege,” “oppression,” “race,” and “sex,” as well as other topics important to social justice such as “feminism,” “human being,” “immigration,” “justice,” “kindness,” “multicultural,” “transgender,” “understanding,” and “value” are named and explained. There are 26 in all, one for each letter of the alphabet. Colorful two-page spreads with kid-friendly illustrations present each term. First the term is described: “Belief is when you are confident something exists even if you can’t see it. Lots of different beliefs fill the world, and no single belief is right for everyone.” On the facing page it concludes: “B is for BELIEF / Everyone has different beliefs.” It is hard to see who the intended audience for this little board book is. Babies and toddlers are busy learning the names for their body parts, familiar objects around them, and perhaps some basic feelings like happy, hungry, and sad; slightly older preschoolers will probably be bewildered by explanations such as: “A value is an expression of how to live a belief. A value can serve as a guide for how you behave around other human beings. / V is for VALUE / Live your beliefs out loud.”
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children. (Board book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-78603-742-8
Page Count: 52
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
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