A delightful, cleverly written combination of wackiness and academia. When Poppywise’s dog Pete (who always eats everything in sight, as noted in What Pete Ate from A-Z [2001]) sneaks into school, the result is inevitable: he gobbles up not just an entire orchestra’s instruments and “the fractions in a box marked fractions,” but also a 26-volume encyclopedia. Soon he’s using words like “ergo” and “empirically” and explaining gravity and light bulbs. It’s temporary, but that’s okay; the best thing happening here is not Pete’s new talent but the luscious spattering of real subjects (Gertrude Stein, trapezoids, gerunds, The Bill of Rights) into the story. It’s interesting how successful the illustrations are—colorful, energetic, and varied—considering the absence of technical drawing skills. The humor and details won’t work for group readings, but this is an excellent choice for early readers to try on their own or with a playful adult. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: July 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-399-23478-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2003
Everything that readers have come to love about the Elephant & Piggie books is present—masterful pacing, easy-to-follow,...
Can Gerald and Piggie’s friendship withstand the friendly overtures of Brian Bat?
When Snake informs Gerald that Piggie is playing with Brian Bat, he is at first complacent. Brian is “nice,” he observes; Snake concurs—after all, he says, “Brian is my Best Friend!” Their mutual reflection that Piggie and Brian “must be having a super-duper fun time!” turns, however, to paranoia when they realize that if their best pals “are having that much fun together, then… / …maybe they do not need us” (that last is printed in teeny-tiny, utterly demoralized type). Gerald and Snake dash/slither to put an end to the fun. Their fears are confirmed when the two new buddies tell them they have “been playing BEST FRIEND GAMES!”—which, it turns out, means making drawings of their respective best friends, Gerald and Snake. Awww. While the buildup to the friends’ confrontation is characteristically funny, there’s a certain feeling of anticlimax to the story’s resolution. How many young children, when playing with a new friend, are likely to spend their time thinking of the friends that they are not playing with? This is unfortunate, as the emotions that Gerald and Snake experience are realistic and profound, deserving of more than a platitudinous, unrealistic response.
Everything that readers have come to love about the Elephant & Piggie books is present—masterful pacing, easy-to-follow, color-coded speech bubbles, hilarious body language—except an emotionally satisfying ending. (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: June 3, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-7958-0
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An object lesson in the value of patience as well as a droll introduction to meta-what-now.
Not every caterpillar gets the memo—or is, for that matter, temperamentally suited to spending two weeks immobilized in a chrysalis.
Seeing everyone headed up a tree (“We’re going to metamorphosize.” “Meta-WHAT-now?”) a clueless caterpillar hurries to follow. Despite the promise of a dazzling transformation, every step in the natural process, from spinning a chrysalis on, is an occasion for histrionic dismay (“It’s STILL Day 1?” “This is taking FOR-EV-ER!”). Gradually, though, the pop-eyed pupa’s kvetching quiets, the moans and groans turn to meditation (“Be one with the chrysalis”), and two weeks later: “I did it! I’m a BUTTERFLY!” Burach chronicles this miracle of nature in cartoon scenes as loud as the rapid patter, culminating in a migratory flight of butterflies and a final “ARE WE THERE YET?!” that hints at a character transformation that’s perhaps less complete than the physical one. It won’t be just adults chuckling at the interactions between the title character and its patiently pupating companions; all the characters speak in dialogue balloons, the protagonist’s green with purple text to match its chrysalis.
An object lesson in the value of patience as well as a droll introduction to meta-what-now. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-28941-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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