Another winning friendship tale from a lovable duo.
Following their introduction in The School Show (2015), Penny and Jelly face another crisis head-on, using their indelible friendship to solve a problem.
The girl and her best dog are excited to receive an invitation to a sleepover under the stars at the local recreation center. They get into the spirit of it with a bedroom star show (Sirius is their favorite, of course) and check in with four of Penny’s friends, who are all going. But then Jelly uncovers the rest of the invitation—the part that reads “no pets allowed.” Jelly’s solution is for Penny to make a pretend Jelly to take with her to the sleepover, but no matter the medium—paper, yarn, fleece, marshmallow, vegetable, shaving cream, cotton ball, etc.—the stand-in Jellys just aren’t right. Time is running out; dark has fallen. Penny packs, but she just can’t do without Jelly. Just then, the perfect solution hits her, and readers will be more than satisfied. Heder’s watercolor, pencil, and ink illustrations portray emotion wonderfully, Jelly’s every feeling broadcast in tilted head and lifted ears. Penny is also realistic, especially her “working hard” face, and the crafts she makes are believable as the work of a child. It’s just too bad readers weren’t introduced to the stars the friends are so excited to see. Penny and two of her friends appear to be white; two are darker-skinned.
Another winning friendship tale from a lovable duo. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: June 14, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-544-28005-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2016
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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