Disappointingly shallow.
An old, movement-averse walrus disrupts the status quo when he decides to learn ballet.
From the creator of The Rainbow Fish comes an underwhelming parable about the value of hard work in the face of closed-mindedness and tradition, set against a backdrop of ongoing environmental crises. Franz-Ferdinand, who at 42 has already surpassed the average walrus life span, lives on the east coast of Greenland, where he surreptitiously observes the rehearsals of Madame Flamenco’s troupe of flamingo ballet dancers (they have been displaced by climate change). After practicing in secret, the head bull walrus requests an audition. No one expects Franz-Ferdinand to succeed at ballet, a fact underscored by a questionable subplot in which he, in need of a “suitable piece of clothing” that isn’t “too feminine,” constructs a tutu out of literal ocean trash that fits his “big fat tummy.” Yet, despite this equation of his large body with garbage, his performance is so impressive and his speech so surprisingly “cultured” that Madame Flamenco falls “madly in love” with her new student, leading to the creation of a walrus ballet company. While the stylized illustrations successfully convey the anthropomorphized animals’ emotions via expressive faces and body language, they omit any visual evidence of walruses’ practicing (as opposed to performing) ballet, which contradicts the book’s heavy-handed message of perseverance. The lengthy text impedes the narrative, while its playful tone downplays human complicity in climate change and ocean trash and elides any context or resources for the environmental and social issues it vaguely references.
Disappointingly shallow. (author's note) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4469-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
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More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
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)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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