If not a big somersault, this is a playful bit of fun.
A cheerleading chick can’t rouse enthusiasm among her farmyard pals. Sis-boom-NAH!
Leaving behind 11 siblings in their shells, a newly hatched chick springs from her egg, brandishing pompoms and wearing cheerleaders’ gear—pleated skirt and sweater emblazoned with the varsity letter “C.” Not only does Chick strut fancy moves while yay-ing noisily all day, she also tries to persuade other animals to form a squad to root for the (literal) farm team. Nope. The yolk’s on them: After lapsing into a brief funk, the yellow fluffster decides who needs ’em and resolves to create a one-chick team. Guess who shows up: Unbeknownst to Chick (though sharp-eyed readers will have observed it in the artwork all along), her brothers and sisters have hatched, donned their own cheerleader uniforms (that just happened to have arrived in the mail), and have come to join her, while the erstwhile neigh (and oink, moo, and baa) sayers cheer from the sidelines. This is, fittingly, a cheery romp, narrated in bouncy verse that reads and scans well, though the underlying theme may not resonate. Why are chicks so gung-ho about cheerleading? Are many kids among the target audience even familiar with cheerleading and its conventions? The digitally rendered illustrations, mixed with paints and pencil, are lively and energetic, and animals’ faces are expressive. Cheerleading calls are incorporated into the text in display type.
If not a big somersault, this is a playful bit of fun. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-13418-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Levine/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2018
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Chilling in the best ways.
When a young rabbit who’s struggling in school finds a helpful crayon, everything is suddenly perfect—until it isn’t.
Jasper is flunking everything except art and is desperate for help when he finds the crayon. “Purple. Pointy…perfect”—and alive. When Jasper watches TV instead of studying, he misspells every word on his spelling test, but the crayon seems to know the answers, and when he uses the crayon to write, he can spell them all. When he faces a math quiz after skipping his homework, the crayon aces it for him. Jasper is only a little creeped out until the crayon changes his art—the one area where Jasper excels—into something better. As guilt-ridden Jasper receives accolade after accolade for grades and work that aren’t his, the crayon becomes more and more possessive of Jasper’s attention and affection, and it is only when Jasper cannot take it anymore that he discovers just what he’s gotten himself into. Reynolds’ text might as well be a Rod Serling monologue for its perfectly paced foreboding and unsettling tension, both gentled by lightly ominous humor. Brown goes all in to match with a grayscale palette for everything but the purple crayon—a callback to black-and-white sci-fi thrillers as much as a visual cue for nascent horror readers. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Chilling in the best ways. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6588-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
© Copyright 2023 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
