by Niki Daly ; illustrated by Niki Daly ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2017
While repeated readings won’t offer surprise, squeals of laughter are assured.
The story opens with the trope of a longed-for child and has as many twists as a pig’s tail.
White Mrs. Tati echoes numerous folk-tale characters when she cries, “I wish we had a sweet little baby!” and in the story’s first twist, white Mr. Tati searches for one at a Baby Shop. After learning they sell baby supplies but not babies, he encounters a street pig vendor and impulsively buys one on his way home. Mrs. Tati is delighted. They name him Potter and raise him like a baby, clothing him, feeding him with a bottle, wearing him in a baby-carrier, and letting him sleep in their bed. When he’s ready for school they outfit him with new clothes and supplies, and he’s depicted as bipedal and utterly anthropomorphic. Nevertheless, the headmistress says the school isn’t for pigs, and despite initial disappointment, the Tatis let Potter lead a piggish life of playing in mud, sleeping outside in hay, and eschewing clothing. Potter seems pleased, but Mrs. Tati still wishes he were a child who looked like them, and digital illustrations show a vision of Potter’s Pinocchio-like transformation into a real boy. After he reiterates his wife’s wish to the stars, Mr. Tati effects his own surprising transformation and hers—when they become pigs like their beloved Potter.
While repeated readings won’t offer surprise, squeals of laughter are assured. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-910959-99-2
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Otter-Barry
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
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by Karma Wilson ; illustrated by Jane Chapman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 16, 2024
Cheery fun that will leave series fans “egg”-static.
In his latest outing, Bear and his pals go in search of eggs.
Bear “lumbers with his friends through the Strawberry Vale.” Raven finds a nest; climbing up, “The bear finds eggs!”: a refrain that appears throughout. Instead of eating the robin’s eggs, however, Bear leaves a gift of dried berries in the nest for the “soon-to-be-chicks.” Next, the friends find 10 mallard eggs (as bright blue as the robin’s), and Bear leaves sunflower seeds. Then the wail of Mama Meadowlark, whose bright yellow undercarriage strikes a warm golden note, leads them to promise to find her lost eggs. With his friends’ assistance, Bear finds one, and they decide to paint them “so they aren’t lost again.” Another is discovered, painted, and placed in Hare’s basket. After hours of persistent searching, Bear suddenly spots the remaining two eggs “in a small patch of clover.” Before they can return these eggs, the chicks hatch and rejoin their mother. Back at his lair, Bear, with his troupe, is visited by all 17 chicks and the robin, mallard, and meadowlark moms: “And the bear finds friends!” Though this sweet spring tale centers on finding and painting eggs, it makes no overt references to Easter. The soft green and blue acrylics, predictable rhymes, and rolling rhythm make this series installment another low-key natural read-aloud.
Cheery fun that will leave series fans “egg”-static. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781665936552
Page Count: 40
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
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by Karma Wilson ; illustrated by AG Ford
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by Karma Wilson ; illustrated by Jane Chapman
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by Karma Wilson ; illustrated by Jane Chapman
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 22, 2019
A sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends.
Is it a stormy-night scare or a bedtime book? Both!
Little Blue Truck and his good friend Toad are heading home when a storm lets loose. Before long, their familiar, now very nervous barnyard friends (Goat, Hen, Goose, Cow, Duck, and Pig) squeeze into the garage. Blue explains that “clouds bump and tumble in the sky, / but here inside we’re warm and dry, / and all the thirsty plants below / will get a drink to help them grow!” The friends begin to relax. “Duck said, loud as he could quack it, / ‘THUNDER’S JUST A NOISY RACKET!’ ” In the quiet after the storm, the barnyard friends are sleepy, but the garage is not their home. “ ‘Beep!’ said Blue. ‘Just hop inside. / All aboard for the bedtime ride!’ ” Young readers will settle down for their own bedtimes as Blue and Toad drop each friend at home and bid them a good night before returning to the garage and their own beds. “Blue gave one small sleepy ‘Beep.’ / Then Little Blue Truck fell fast asleep.” Joseph’s rich nighttime-blue illustrations (done “in the style of [series co-creator] Jill McElmurry”) highlight the power of the storm and capture the still serenity that follows. Little Blue Truck has been chugging along since 2008, but there seems to be plenty of gas left in the tank.
A sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-328-85213-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry
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by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph
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by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph
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