by Michaela Muntean ; illustrated by Pascal Lemaître ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 7, 2020
Interactive silliness for both babysitters and babysat.
These piggy progeny are a problem!
The erudite (and one might say uptight) pig from Do Not Open This Book (2006) has been prevailed upon to babysit his niece and nephews. “Do you know anything about children?” the pig asks readers. He wonders if there’s any way to control the volume on them or if they come with specific washing instructions. Their mother has left a list of ways to keep them occupied, but it seems the protagonist’s ideas of what constitutes playtime (the harp or golf) are not in sync with the piglets’, and readers are likely to tell him so. It’s the same with snack time (would piglets like Limburger and caviar?) and nap time. After a disastrous “CRASH!” the harried porker asks readers to assess a list of suggested activities to entertain these unruly kids: laundry, cleaning the bathroom, vacuuming, or going outside. The page turn gives readers the opportunity to supply the correct answer, which he tries. Outdoor play seems to work for a moment—until the mud fight. But after a little détente on the part of his charges, he decides babysitting is not all that bad. Lemaître’s bright cartoons bring James Stevenson to mind, and they provide plenty of giggles in their interaction with Muntean’s all-dialogue text. The pig’s gender is never specified textually, but stereotypes both visual and cultural suggest the protagonist is male.
Interactive silliness for both babysitters and babysat. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-338-28390-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
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More by Michaela Muntean
BOOK REVIEW
by Michaela Muntean & photographed by K. C. Bailey & Stephen Kazmierski
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by Michaela Muntean & illustrated by Pascal Lemaître
by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021
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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by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2024
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series.
Another creature is on the loose.
The long-running series continues its successful formula with this Hallmark card of a book, which features bright illustrations and catchy rhymes. This time, the mythical creature the racially diverse children set out to catch is an absent mom who does it all (lists of descriptors include the words banker, caregiver, nurse, doctor, driver, chef, housekeeper, teacher, entertainer, playmate, laundry service, problem solver, handywoman, cleaner, and alarm clock) but doesn’t seem to have a job outside the home and is inexplicably a dinosaur. As the children prepare gifts and a meal for her, the text becomes an ode to the skills the Mamasaurus possesses (“Day or night she’s always there. / She meets every wish and need”) and values she instills (“Sometimes life can mean hard work,” “kindness matters,” and “what counts is doing your best”). This well-intentioned selection veers into cliche generously sprinkled with saccharine but manages to redeem itself with its appreciation for mothers and all that they may do. Endpapers include a “to” and “from” page framed in a heart, as well as a page where young gift givers or recipients can draw a picture of their Mamasaurus.
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781728274300
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
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by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton
by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton
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by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Paul Gill
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by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Paul Gill
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