Pedantic and predictable.
An owl and a unicorn commit to helping a bullied jackalope.
This second entry in Anaya’s Owl in a Straw Hat series takes on bullying with a cast of extremely self-aware creatures that includes Ollie the owl, Uno the unicorn, and Jackie the jackalope. One morning, Jackie decides to leave school after being bullied. In response, Nana—Ollie’s grandmother and the teacher at the local animal school—performs an in-your-face finger-wagging lecture for the already-knowledgeable children, shaming them into acting to bring Jackie back from across the Rainbow Bridge. In a weak plot that follows a formulaic and unsurprising three-task arc, Ollie and Uno must deal with the Three Guardians before reaching the land across the Rainbow Bridge (not, here, a metaphor for death) and convincing Jackie to leave the place where there is no “fear, envy, or greed” to return to school, where she was sent by her parents to “learn how others live” so “there will be less prejudice.” Popular Mexican characters such as La Llorona, La Huesuda, and El Kookoóee (El Cucuy) appear as the wise guardians. Evidently not one to cull words, Anaya’s excessive text results in two-column text-only spreads that will inspire readers to skip the page. El Moisés’ illustrations feature many New Mexican, Mexican, and American cultural elements yet they lack dynamism.
Pedantic and predictable. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-89013-642-3
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Museum of New Mexico
Review Posted Online: Oct. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Yes, the Pigeon has to go to school, and so do readers, and this book will surely ease the way.
All the typical worries and excuses kids have about school are filtered through Willems’ hysterical, bus-loving Pigeon.
Told mostly in speech balloons, the bird’s monologue will have kids (and their caregivers) in stitches at Pigeon’s excuses. From already knowing everything (except whatever question readers choose to provide in response to “Go ahead—ask me a question. / Any question!”) to fearing learning too much (“My head might pop off”), Pigeon’s imagination has run wild. Readers familiar with Pigeon will recognize the muted, matte backgrounds that show off the bird’s shenanigans so well. As in previous outings, Willems varies the size of the pigeon on the page to help communicate emotion, the bird teeny small on the double-page spread that illustrates the confession that “I’m… / scared.” And Pigeon’s eight-box rant about all the perils of school (“The unknown stresses me out, dude”) is marvelously followed by the realization (complete with lightbulb thought bubble) that school is the place for students to practice, with experts, all those skills they don’t yet have. But it is the ending that is so Willems, so Pigeon, and so perfect. Pigeon’s last question is “Well, HOW am I supposed to get there, anyway!?!” Readers will readily guess both the answer and Pigeon’s reaction.
Yes, the Pigeon has to go to school, and so do readers, and this book will surely ease the way. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-368-04645-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The runaway cookie in this Mexican bakery is a soft, brown, stubby-tailed piglet as impertinently bold and smug in his continual escape as his Gingerbread Boy cousin. “Chase me! Chase me down the street. But this is one piggy you won’t get to eat! / ¡Córrele, córrele! ¡Y Córrele más! ¡Soy el cochinito que jamás comerás!” This bouncy dual refrain extends the familiar cumulative text, rendered in both English and Spanish, as piggy manages to elude Marta the baker, Lorenzo the mechanic, Mamá Nita the beautician, Joaquín the telephone repairman and a host of other neighborhood adults—until he is outsmarted by Rosa, a little girl on her way to school, who foxily “helps him” cross the street. Safely tucked into her backpack, piggy is both a welcome surprise and an excuse for Rosa’s lateness to class. Deep opaque acrylic paintings of a colorful barrio and its residents in pursuit add the right amount of cultural flavor to this vivid Latino retelling. Recipe appended. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-55885-586-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Piñata Books/Arte Público
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2010
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