A sweet, silly, and slightly surreal celebration of individuality and connection.
A series of mysterious messages yields surprising insights for this farm family.
Farmers Otis and Abby have two children, Willie and Belle—and 12 beloved chickens, who are often included in family activities, eating fresh salads, reading, and sitting in rocking chairs on the porch. Krosoczka’s expressive illustrations, rendered in what appears to be watercolor and pencil, bring humor and tenderness to each character, human and chicken. One day, the humans are surprised to discover a message that appears to have been scratched in the dirt by a chicken: “No more ARUGULA.” More messages, complete with charming mistakes such as a reversed letter “e,” soon follow: “More stories about brave chickens” and “too hot. Can we have a fan?” After Tripp, their letter carrier, tells the townspeople, human crowds appear with smartphones and money in hand to document the “chicken talk” and purchase eggs. Unlike Charlotte’s Web, the humans and their feathered wordsmiths appear to live in mutual appreciation happily ever after. Yet the greatest mystery of all is never solved: Can readers trust that these messages truly are coming directly from the chickens? What would it mean if they were not? Regardless, MacLachlan’s latest models an attentive, loving, and respectful relationship between humans and their animal companions that even those without articulate pets will appreciate. The farmers and their children present white; Tripp has brown skin.
A sweet, silly, and slightly surreal celebration of individuality and connection. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-239864-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2018
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
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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