Young independent readers’ hearts will go out to the rescue dog in this engaging tale.
Based on a true story, this debut chapter book tells one abandoned pooch’s story through his own eyes.
Gus wasn’t always a stray dog. When he was young, his name was Rex, and he loved his human, Timmy, very much. But things started to change for Rex when Timmy went to school and didn’t have time for the canine he once loved. After escaping the backyard to follow Timmy to a friend’s house, Rex was punished. Timmy knotted shoelaces together and tied Rex to a tree, abandoning the dog, first by ignoring him and then neglecting to feed him during the cold winter months. When his family moved, Timmy left Rex tied to the tree. Rex eventually broke free and became a street dog, desperately lonely until he met fellow stray Trixie. The two wished they could trust humans, but further cruelty—some boys fired a pellet gun at Rex—caused them to hide. Unfortunately, Rex’s health was failing; the shoelace still tied around his neck was making him sicker. He discovered it was hard to breathe and swallow. Luckily, kind strangers took him in, healed him, and made him a TV and internet star. Now named Gus, he and Trixie wait for their forever homes. In her simply worded, dog’s-eye-view narration, Roquemore-Maxwell doesn’t pull any punches when describing the brutality of humans. But the canine’s harsh reality is made bearable through his hopeful, loving worldview. His rescuers also bring light into the darkness that stray dogs face, and the author’s absorbing and moving story may inspire young readers to become motivated and tackle these problems. The images by debut illustrator Bordelon are sparsely spread throughout. They are more successful on the color cover than in the black-and-white linework, as the cartoonish style doesn’t match the seriousness of the content.
Young independent readers’ hearts will go out to the rescue dog in this engaging tale.Pub Date: March 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4808-7419-0
Page Count: 43
Publisher: Archway Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come.
Little Blue Truck and his pal Toad meet friends old and new on a springtime drive through the country.
This lift-the-flap, interactive entry in the popular Little Blue Truck series lacks the narrative strength and valuable life lessons of the original Little Blue Truck (2008) and its sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (2009). Both of those books, published for preschoolers rather than toddlers, featured rich storylines, dramatic, kinetic illustrations, and simple but valuable life lessons—the folly of taking oneself too seriously, the importance of friends, and the virtue of taking turns, for example. At about half the length and with half as much text as the aforementioned titles, this volume is a much quicker read. Less a story than a vernal celebration, the book depicts a bucolic drive through farmland and encounters with various animals and their young along the way. Beautifully rendered two-page tableaux teem with butterflies, blossoms, and vibrant pastel, springtime colors. Little Blue greets a sheep standing in the door of a barn: “Yoo-hoo, Sheep! / Beep-beep! / What’s new?” Folding back the durable, card-stock flap reveals the barn’s interior and an adorable set of twin lambs. Encounters with a duck and nine ducklings, a cow with a calf, a pig with 10 (!) piglets, a family of bunnies, and a chicken with a freshly hatched chick provide ample opportunity for counting and vocabulary work.
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-544-93809-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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