He loves to eat books, but reading them…not so much.
Wolf loves the taste of paper and can’t resist chowing down on books, both big and small. His friends encourage him to read: “Books are full of adventure and excitement!” Wolfette points out. Despite this, Wolf falls asleep in his easy chair. He wakes up in a strange place, a lush green forest that is also a library. Tree trunks are hollowed out to make room for bookshelves, and more books hang from branches. The librarian is a squirrel, currently frantic because 10 books are missing. Wolf offers to help search. Wolf’s search involves a trip through several children’s classics, including The Jungle Books, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and Peter Pan. (With the exception of selections from Aesop and The Arabian Nights, all are of the white male canon.) Once all the books have been retrieved, Wolf is magically transported back to the forest library. Wolf receives elaborate thanks from the squirrel and is suddenly back in his chair at home, still holding the book his friends had given him. Now, after his adventure, he’s anxious to discover what’s between the covers. Though Lallemand preaches to the converted and her material is old as dust, her message is evergreen; Thuillier’s bright illustrations give a friendly, cartoony cast to the classic works they pay homage to. A list of the books referenced is included.
Read more—and more expansively. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-2-7338-5619-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Auzou Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 4, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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Puppies celebrate the many ways their dads are awesome.
“Daddies are playful. / They swing you around. // You ride on their shoulders / or hang upside down.” The first spread pictures a scruffy pup, mouth clamped on its dad’s tail, hanging. The second features a long dachshund, his four pups using the large expanse of his back as a jungle gym or resting spot. The husky dad is labeled as daring, brave, and strong, while the hound takes his pup on adventures (digging and hiding under a bush). Other dog dads give kisses and tickles, tell bedtime stories and help count sheep (a stuffed toy), and help their pups grow (challenging them with stairs and carrying them when the going gets tough). Lovšin creatively interprets some of the text that applies well to kids but not so well to canines: dad and pup at each end of a long stick held in their mouths is the dog equivalent of holding hands. Though many dog breeds will be familiar, some are just mutts, though all are shown caring for and enjoying the company of their offspring. White backgrounds keep the focus on the dogs.
Daddy-and-child dog lovers can try some of these canine ways of expressing affection. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 17, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62779-452-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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Even more alliterative hanky-panky from the creators of The Wonky Donkey (2010).
Operating on the principle (valid, here) that anything worth doing is worth overdoing, Smith and Cowley give their wildly popular Wonky Donkey a daughter—who, being “cute and small,” was a “dinky donkey”; having “beautiful long eyelashes” she was in consequence a “blinky dinky donkey”; and so on…and on…and on until the cumulative chorus sails past silly and ludicrous to irresistibly hysterical: “She was a stinky funky plinky-plonky winky-tinky,” etc. The repeating “Hee Haw!” chorus hardly suggests what any audience’s escalating response will be. In the illustrations the daughter sports her parent’s big, shiny eyes and winsome grin while posing in a multicolored mohawk next to a rustic boombox (“She was a punky blinky”), painting her hooves pink, crossing her rear legs to signal a need to pee (“winky-tinky inky-pinky”), demonstrating her smelliness with the help of a histrionic hummingbird, and finally cozying up to her proud, evidently single parent (there’s no sign of another) for a closing cuddle.
Should be packaged with an oxygen supply, as it will incontestably elicit uncontrollable gales of giggles. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-60083-4
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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