A funny, sweet-natured tale about getting along despite differences.
Reluctant at first, a cat makes friends with the family’s new robot in this children’s novel.
Peeps, a fluffy white cat, notices her owner, Max, whose tan skin is a shade between his darker father and paler mother, opening a cardboard box. A new fort to play in! But what that box contains is a “ready-to-program Buddy Bot Y2K robot brain,” which Max attaches to a robot body constructed from spare TV and car parts. When Switches, as he’s named, clomps into Peeps’ life, she’s suspicious and resentful, not knowing what to make of his fluency in cat language. He’s a showoff, capturing her family’s attention, and besides, he stomps her cardboard fort. Switches, meanwhile, believes he’s made a new friend. Peeps decides to get back at the robot, so she takes advantage of his trusting nature to get him in trouble and locked in the garage. Peeps, realizing she doesn’t want to be mean, deliberately misbehaves so she can join Switches in garage exile and apologize. In the end, the two become friends. Giles, who has also written and illustrated the Fitting Out series of children’s books, subtly addresses children’s mixed feelings about newcomers to the family with understanding and humor. Peeps’ point of view provides some wonderfully comic moments, as with her ever-so-helpful routine that includes sleeping on freshly laundered clothes: “Her family would certainly be grateful for any cat hairs she left behind. After all, they did not have much hair of their own.” Giles’ whimsical illustrations add expression to the nonhuman characters; Peeps, for example, can be pleased, skeptical, or peeved. The drawings also contribute risible commentary, like when Switches and Max both draw Peeps with very different skill.
A funny, sweet-natured tale about getting along despite differences.Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2020
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 102
Publisher: Birch Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
Lively fun with animal friends.
Has Plum’s pep deserted him?
Several animals from the Athensville Zoo are on their way to visit an elementary school. Overconfident Itch the ningbing (an Australian marsupial), unaware that zookeeper Lizzie will be doing all the talking, looks forward to “lecturing eager young minds.” Plum, the usually chipper peacock, on the other hand, is anxious—maybe the schoolchildren won’t like him or he’ll get lost. So when they arrive at the school to find the students have been sent home due to a blizzard, Plum is relieved. The animals are left in a school gym for the night until three self-important class mice free them. Itch heads for the library to meet the learned turtle, but Plum reluctantly explores with his friends. When his anxiety peaks, they reassure him, and when the mice reject Meg, another peacock, as “borrrring” and uncool, they buoy her as well before everyone comes together to save Itch, who finds himself outside and stranded in a snowdrift. Unlike Leave It to Plum (2022), this is not a mystery, and the relationship focus shifts from Lizzie to the rodents, but the pace is brisk, and sequel seekers will be pleased to revisit familiar characters (if dismayed that Itch’s longing for knowledge leads to his downfall). In Phelan’s engaging grayscale pen-and-wash illustrations, Lizzie has short curly hair; text and art cue her as Latine.
Lively fun with animal friends. (how to draw Plum) (Chapter book. 7-10)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-06-307920-5
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
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