A merry, witty celebration of chaos and grumpiness.
A cantankerous bear’s home is once again wrested from his control.
Even though he’s a bear, Bruce accompanies four geese south every winter for their yearly migration. Personally he “would have preferred to hibernate,” but he’s their mom (Mother Bruce, 2015). Returning one spring—on a bus, naturally—they discover that mice have turned their (human-style) house into a woodland hotel. The ensuing commotion includes possum pillow fights, a beaver eating at the table—well, eating the table—a fox trying to coax turtle-guests into a pot of boiling water (“It’s a bath!”), and a tourist bus full of elephants. As cheekily funny as the illustrations are, even funnier is their juxtaposition with the often understated narration. “It was a long night” shows Bruce in his one-bear–sized bed with four unrelated animals—the porcupine wanting to snuggle, the rabbit needing to pee—plus two of his own kids. When the mice-proprietors urge Bruce to check out (“Our bellhops will see to your luggage”), Bruce’s own children—the geese, who, though technically adults, act like toddlers—appear in bellhop uniforms. Dialogue is in speech bubbles. With deftly drawn lines that vary from bold to fine over tertiary colors, Higgins creates touchable textures (wallpaper; hardwood floors) and hilarious facial expressions, including Bruce’s perpetually scowling unibrow.
A merry, witty celebration of chaos and grumpiness. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4847-4362-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it.
What happens when a robot washes up alone on an island?
“Everything was just right on the island.” Brown beautifully re-creates the first days of Roz, the protagonist of his Wild Robot novels, as she adapts to living in the natural world. A storm-tossed ship, seen in the opening just before the title page, and a packing crate are the only other human-made objects to appear in this close-up look at the robot and her new home. Roz emerges from the crate, and her first thought as she sets off up a grassy hill—”This must be where I belong”—is sweetly glorious, a note of recognition rather than conquest. Roz learns to move, hide, and communicate like the creatures she meets. When she discovers an orphaned egg—and the gosling Brightbill, who eventually hatches—her decision to be his mother seems a natural extension of her adaptation. Once he flies south for the winter, her quiet wait across seasons for his return is a poignant portrayal of separation and change. Brown’s clean, precise lines and deep, light-filled colors offer a sense of what Roz might be seeing, suggesting a place that is alive yet deeply serene and radiant. Though the book stands alone, it adds an immensely appealing dimension to Roz’s world. Round thumbnails offer charming peeks into the island world, depicting Roz’s animal neighbors and Brightbill’s maturation.
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780316669467
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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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