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HELLO TO YOU, MOON

A disappointing addition to an already-full shelf

Bright yet busy illustrations light up this nighttime story.

Bedtime stories that feature animals and the moon are all too familiar, and this book does not stand out from the pack. Pencil-and-digital illustrations depict animals from all over the world, making noises and moving about as the moon rises and sets in the night sky. The primarily purple, red, and blue palette is eye-catching, as is the attention to textures and patterns. However, the text leaves readers with more questions than answers: How can the moon move simultaneously over the Northern and Southern hemispheres? Why are diurnal animals included, such as lions, monkeys, penguins, and meerkats, in what should be a nocturnal menagerie? Why are these animals together at the end when they live on different continents? And why do they then say hello to the setting moon; shouldn’t they bid the moon goodbye? In addition, the stars shine brightly throughout the text, but at dusk and dawn, stars are less visible than they are in darkest night. Furthermore, some of the animals don’t make the sounds ascribed to them in the text—for example, koalas don’t bellow. Problematic rhyme and meter further detract from this already disappointing reading experience. Skip this book and choose more-thoughtful, well-thought-out depictions of bedtime, nighttime, and the moon.

A disappointing addition to an already-full shelf . (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: April 1, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-76012-546-2

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Little Hare/Trafalgar

Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018

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THE WONKY DONKEY

Hee haw.

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The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.

In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.

Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)

Pub Date: May 1, 2010

ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1

Page Count: 26

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018

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DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE SLEIGH!

A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.

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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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