Visually enticing, inviting repeat visits.
During a museum outing with his grandmother, a boy wanders into an exhibition that yields the unexpected.
“Jackson” is the first image that readers encounter. The black, yellow, and orange drip painting features a feline-shaped white space at the base and a paint-splattered cat emerging on the right. The label for the Jackson Pollack–inspired piece reads: “Adventurous and curious… / but messy.” As Tom, a pale-skinned youngster in shorts and sandals, meanders along, the labels indirectly communicate something about the parodied artists as a stylistically appropriate cat crawls out of each work to join the parade. (The artists, mostly male Europeans, are listed after the conclusion with dates and nationalities.) René Magritte’s animal is blue, dotted with clouds; M.C. Escher’s white twins “sometimes find the world / puzzling.” Ultimately, Henri Rousseau’s tiger sends the terrified kitties back to their respective artworks, except for Jackson, now nearly paint-free, who bids Tom farewell. It’s always fun for children to imagine entering paintings or interacting with their subjects, and while this book is thin on action, young people and adults who know the originals (and are therefore in on the humor) or who enjoy looking at skillfully rendered art will appreciate the experience. As sometimes happens, the publishing planets aligned: The American edition of this U.K. edition publishes the same season as Brian Lies’ Cat Nap (2025), the story of a cat chasing a mouse through historically diverse artworks. Both books offer playful explorations of gallery treasures.
Visually enticing, inviting repeat visits. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781836300205
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scallywag Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
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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