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LOLA GOES TO WORK

Name: LOLA GOES TO WORK
Author: Marcia Goldman
ISBN: 978-1-939547-00-2

A NINE-TO-FIVE THERAPY DOG

From the Lola series

by Marcia Goldman ; photographed by Marcia Goldman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 10, 2013

Tiny and gentle, but powerful just the same.

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Not all working dogs are big and powerful, like police or rescue dogs. Some are tiny and gentle, like little Lola, a 5-pound Yorkshire terrier from California certified as a therapy dog.

Lola narrates her own story with just one sentence per page, accompanied by a high-quality photograph of the adorable dog at home, in training sessions or on visits to schoolchildren and “friends who are not feeling well.” The simple story describes Lola’s challenges in her training to be a therapy dog, which are then echoed in her compassionate assistance to others who are facing different life challenges. The story and appealing photos will draw in preschoolers and children learning to read, including older new readers. Lola is definitely an endearing little character, with charming expressions captured in the illustrations and a tempting cover photo of Lola in her therapy-dog bandanna sitting next to her red plaid lunchbox (almost as big as she is). An author’s note explains a little about therapy-dog training, and a page for teachers offers discussion questions relating to “empathy studies,” as well as suggested activities. There are only a couple of children’s books in print about therapy dogs, and this one has the broadest appeal to different age groups.

Tiny and gentle, but powerful just the same. (Informational picture book. 3-10)

Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-939547-00-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Creston

Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
LOLA'S TEDDY BEAR
by Marcia Goldman ; photographed by Marcia Goldman

- BOOK REVIEW
LOLA AND TATTLETALE ZEKE
by Marcia Goldman ; photographed by Marcia Goldman

- BOOK REVIEW
LOLA GOES TO THE DOCTOR
by Marcia Goldman ; photographed by Marcia Goldman

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

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PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

by James Dean ; illustrated by James Dean ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 18, 2018

Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among

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Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.

If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”

Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)