A personable work that tells the tale of a day in the life of an adorable pup.
A dachshund has an eventful day in this debut picture book by Kat and Scott Arbuckle.
One of Stroganoff’s human owners wakes him up with the “Good Morning Stroganoff song,” and the brown canine is “ready…to start the day!” Following breakfast and a walk, Stroganoff is “dog tired” and takes a nap. Afterward, it’s playtime outside; Stroganoff shows his “Blue Bone” toy some pretty flowers and plays fetch with his “BFF,” a ball on a cloth strap called “basket-a-ball.” Later, Stroganoff enjoys white rice—his favorite dish—for dinner. After snacking on a treat that helps keep his teeth clean, the dachshund is ready for bed. His owners tuck him in and say goodnight, and the narrator tells readers that he “can be your best friend too.” Stroganoff is a sweet-looking, energetic protagonist, and the book deftly emphasizes how pets can be important members of families. Young dog owners will find the animal’s adventures relatable as Arbuckle’s digitally altered, cartoonlike photographs colorfully depict him as he sleeps, eats, and plays. A few pages feature Stroganoff’s many nicknames, including “Mr. Floppy,” “Captain Waggles,” and “Foot Warmer.”
A personable work that tells the tale of a day in the life of an adorable pup.Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73590-270-8
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hee haw.
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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BOOK REVIEW
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