A clever twist on traditional dog-versus-cat animosity, with subtle overtones of sharing and tolerance.
Dog and cat meet cute and make friends.
Bob is a dachshund with huge, expressive eyes and a mission to sleep all day on a carefully made twin bed. The understated text works with the drolly humorous illustrations to describe Bob’s “hard work” of creating a perfectly comfy sleeping spot. The dog tosses stuffed animals off the bed, rumples up the bedding, knocks over a lamp, and then settles in to the chaos in a cozy nest of pillows and blankets. A set of cat ears appears behind the bed, and the cat is gradually revealed on subsequent pages, referred to in mysterious fashion only as Someone. The cat watches and waits and then, on a double-page-spread with great dramatic impact, leaps through the air toward Bob. This spread with the attacking cat has as text only the single word “POUNCE!” illustrated in huge letters with the effect of reverberating motion. Replacing “Bob” with “Someone,” the text then repeats all the steps Bob went through to create the perfect sleeping spot, this time with illustrations depicting the cat mauling Bob and crawling in next to the surprisingly tolerant dog for a long nap together. Both Bob and Someone the cat have irresistible expressions, with their huge eyes conveying emotion on every page. This funny story will have wide appeal, from preschoolers just learning about humor right up to new readers, who will be able to handle the brief text set in a large font
A clever twist on traditional dog-versus-cat animosity, with subtle overtones of sharing and tolerance. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-328-99471-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it.
What happens when a robot washes up alone on an island?
“Everything was just right on the island.” Brown beautifully re-creates the first days of Roz, the protagonist of his Wild Robot novels, as she adapts to living in the natural world. A storm-tossed ship, seen in the opening just before the title page, and a packing crate are the only other human-made objects to appear in this close-up look at the robot and her new home. Roz emerges from the crate, and her first thought as she sets off up a grassy hill—”This must be where I belong”—is sweetly glorious, a note of recognition rather than conquest. Roz learns to move, hide, and communicate like the creatures she meets. When she discovers an orphaned egg—and the gosling Brightbill, who eventually hatches—her decision to be his mother seems a natural extension of her adaptation. Once he flies south for the winter, her quiet wait across seasons for his return is a poignant portrayal of separation and change. Brown’s clean, precise lines and deep, light-filled colors offer a sense of what Roz might be seeing, suggesting a place that is alive yet deeply serene and radiant. Though the book stands alone, it adds an immensely appealing dimension to Roz’s world. Round thumbnails offer charming peeks into the island world, depicting Roz’s animal neighbors and Brightbill’s maturation.
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780316669467
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
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
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