Any child who has been lost will relate to this story; the language and illustrations will make it a joy to read.
During a big storm, Little Elephant panics when he gets lost in the rainforest. Can he find his way back to safety?
The wind blows “swish sway swish sway,” and the rain falls “pitter patter pitter patter.” Scared, Little Elephant stays close to his mother. But when “an old tree CRACKS and CRASHES to the ground,” poor Little Elephant is separated from her. But the pachyderm has little time to despair. A tiger is coming, and he must run for his life! Little Elephant runs faster and faster as the tiger gains on him. Just in time, he is reunited with his mother. Huddled within his herd, Little Elephant is safe, and the tiger flees. Little Elephant’s rainforest adventure is nothing new. The beauty of the story, however, lies in the rhythmic onomatopoeia and fanciful illustrations. The howling wind’s “whistles and wails” and the “slip-slop” of slippery mud are heightened by playfully manipulated swirling, swishing letters in varying fonts and sizes. MacCarthy’s dynamic art also enhances the story. Double-page spreads boast wide expanses of rainforest in rich, warm shades of greens, golds, and browns. Tropical plants and rainforest creatures come to life in vivid detail, while emotion and mood are intensified with every carefully chosen hue, line, and brushstroke. In addition, readers will enjoy spotting creatures unique to the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia scattered throughout the book (a key at the back helps with identification).
Any child who has been lost will relate to this story; the language and illustrations will make it a joy to read. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-91095-911-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Otter-Barry
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
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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Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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