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K IS FOR KITTEN

A tiny ginger kitten is rescued from the alley in this alphabetic adventure. From A to Z, Leopold (Once I Was . . . , 1999) chronicles a young girl’s first day with her foundling. Christening the kitty Miss Rosie, she welcomes the feline to her home, introducing it to the inhabitants and surrounding environs. In typical kittenish fashion, Rosie’s curiosity is greater than her common sense as she recklessly teases the resident dog, frolics after squirrels, tussles with a frog, and generally tumbles from one misadventure to another. A dunk in the pond, a quarrel with a neighborhood cat, getting stuck up a tree, all wear out the petite, furry whirlwind, who ultimately settles down with a contented string of Zs at tale’s end. Rhythmic verses are arranged with a stanza of rhymes dedicated to each letter. The playful stanzas successfully convey both the naïveté and rampant curiosity that is so potently kitten. “S is for Shadow. / Wherever she goes, / A little gray kitten / Plays with her toes.” Jeffers’s (McDuff Saves the Day, p. 743, etc.) delicately detailed gouache and colored-ink illustrations beguile readers with the full force of Miss Rosie’s considerable charm. Wide, green eyes peer out of the pages with incredulity, and with wee ears eagerly pointed forward and sassy tail perkily aloft, the cuddlesome kitten leaps paws first into each mishap. A frisky feline frolic through the alphabet. (Picture book. 2-6)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002

ISBN: 0-399-23563-9

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2002

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S CHRISTMAS

Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...

The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.

The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.

Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)

Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3

Page Count: 24

Publisher: HMH Books

Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014

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DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE SLEIGH!

A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.

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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

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