Stern and Sims (George, 1999) join forces again for another easy reader in beginning-chapter format about an average boy named George and his older siblings. In this book the focus is on his irrepressible but appealing dog, Diggety. In the first story, the three kids administer a multiple-choice test to Diggety to determine his intelligence. The directions and answer choices are cleverly integrated into the text, which might be a useful read-aloud for children facing their first standardized testing. (And the story might be comforting to some, as “Diggety does not test well.”) The second story has a sledding theme, and the third has the siblings baking dog biscuits for Diggety’s birthday, with a recipe included for biscuits that can be eaten by both canines and humans. Teachers will like the integration of the multiple-choice test format and the procedural format of baking (along with the recipe) as examples of everyday reasons why we need writing in our lives. Kids will enjoy the illustrations of Diggety by Sims, also the illustrator of the perpetually popular Polk Street School series. Diggety is a charming, rangy dog (perhaps part poodle and part golden retriever) with fluffy tan fur and a big white spot around one eye. Diggety never does dig any holes, and there’s an unnamed, shy gray cat in the background, so Diggety and George seem destined for more adventures, even though they aren’t as charismatic as the characters in the beloved Henry and Mudge books. A serviceable addition to the easy-reader shelves. (Easy reader. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-531-30295-4
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
Score one for cleanliness. Like (almost) all Munsch, funny as it stands but even better read aloud, with lots of exaggerated...
The master of the manic patterned tale offers a newly buffed version of his first published book, with appropriately gloppy new illustrations.
Like the previous four iterations (orig. 1979; revised 2004, 2006, 2009), the plot remains intact through minor changes in wording: Each time young Jule Ann ventures outside in clean clothes, a nefarious mud puddle leaps out of a tree or off the roof to get her “completely all over muddy” and necessitate a vigorous parental scrubbing. Petricic gives the amorphous mud monster a particularly tarry look and texture in his scribbly, high-energy cartoon scenes. It's a formidable opponent, but the two bars of smelly soap that the resourceful child at last chucks at her attacker splatter it over the page and send it sputtering into permanent retreat.
Score one for cleanliness. Like (almost) all Munsch, funny as it stands but even better read aloud, with lots of exaggerated sound effects. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-55451-427-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 7, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
IN THE NEWS
Yarlett takes poor advantage of the format, as readers see only half of the correspondence, but the premise and punny names...
A lad finds a big red dragon in his basement and wisely seeks expert advice about its care and feeding in this epistolary episode.
Young Alexander’s missives (there are no cellphones, nor parents, in sight) are mostly paraphrased rather than shown, but each response comes as a small note folded into a pocket that’s been printed and shaped like an envelope: “Douse it in water right away!” writes panic-stricken fire chief H.Y. Drant; find it a large house or castle, advises B. East of World Animal Welfare; “fatten it up,” suggests Angus Teak the butcher (“Look forward to [eating, scratched out] meeting your dragon”) with sinister relish. Boy and dragon have wonderful times together, but the ultimate realization that dragons really don’t make good pets leads the narrator to follow the written advice of best friend Hillary (“the wisest person I knew”) and set it free. The later arrival of a slightly burned picture postcard in the “post” reassures him that the dragon won’t be forgetting to keep in touch. The human figures in Yarlett’s cartoon illustrations are either white or have their heads cut off at the page top. With the exception of the pasted-on postcard from the dragon at the end, all of the correspondence is removable and thereby losable.
Yarlett takes poor advantage of the format, as readers see only half of the correspondence, but the premise and punny names add some appeal. (Novelty. 6-8)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-61067-818-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
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