A wholesome if somewhat didactic backyard adventure.
In the third chapter-book in Tiffany’s Carter and Jack trilogy, a Maltese puppy learns the value of gratitude.
Green-collared Carter and red-collared Jack are Maltese puppies with very different attitudes about life. Jack sees himself as a watchdog for their white, middle-class owners Erin and Matthew, and he is the self-appointed sniffer-outer of the sly coyote that has been prowling the neighborhood at night. Carter, meanwhile, considers pampering to be his due and is determined to indulge in as much of it as possible. In fact, he has aspirations to form a “brotherhood” of suburban canines and to formalize their so-called rights in a list of demands to be presented to all their owners. Jack tries to reason with Carter—he points out how lucky they both are, and how much Erin and Matthew love and care for them, with no need for anything in writing. Carter won’t listen. He persists in agitating for more treats, but in doing so finds himself in danger of losing the other dogs’ friendship—and of being taken by the coyote. Will being attacked change Carter’s outlook? Tiffany leans mostly into Jack’s point of view. While often more workmanlike than literary, the prose does feature some nice flourishes (“They all communicated with the same language, using their eyes and ears, squirms and wiggles, barks and growls, and sniffs and smells”), and odd bits of drollery that adult readers will appreciate (“He had heard that hard work never killed anyone, but he wasn’t about to take a chance”). The story itself is somewhat text-heavy, with a relative paucity of accompanying pictures; the moralistic discussions and purely expository paragraphs can grow lengthy (for example, Carter’s page-long talk about the evolution of dogs from wolves). Though serving to edify young readers, the delivery of this material may not always engage them. That said, Brayer’s cartoon-style full-color illustrations burst with vitality and puppy personality (particularly in the double-page depiction of the coyote attack). While the textual embellishments, such as Carter’s list of demands, seem a tad too adult-focused, the doggy distinctiveness of the pictures should keep children from tuning out.
A wholesome if somewhat didactic backyard adventure.Pub Date: June 5, 2025
ISBN: 9798822948075
Page Count: 90
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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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