A sweet, short-sentenced book made for young dog lovers seeking life advice.
Adorable photographs and clever cartoons combine in this book of life advice from MacDonald and his dog.
A brief introduction, signed by MacDonald and his spouse, Patti, explains that the two humans have learned a lot from Charlie, their Cavalier King Charles spaniel. MacDonald and Charlie offer sage words of wisdom, geared toward young readers but equally applicable to adults. Each two-page spread features large text with themes like, “Be curious,” accompanied by an original comic illustration by Bucella and followed by a photo of Charlie and his insight (“You can never know too much”). Some of the pages go together well: Advice to look for treats includes an image of Charlie standing on hind legs at the vet, requesting an extra biscuit. Other spreads use contrasting themes and images. The short, plain text includes accessible vocabulary (featuring challenges like knowledge and understanding), making this a good choice for emergent readers. Bucella’s comedic illustrations enhance the text, and additional “Far Side”–style comics appear as bonus extras on the endpapers. But the real star is Charlie, who looks soft and snuggly in his photos. Most of the photographs of Charlie are edited to eliminate the original context and placed on a minimalist, illustrated background; the most successful images are those that include more detail.
A sweet, short-sentenced book made for young dog lovers seeking life advice.Pub Date: March 23, 2023
ISBN: 9798985816235
Page Count: 48
Publisher: del Mar Publishing LLC
Review Posted Online: June 17, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again.
Cece loves asking “why” and “what if.”
Her parents encourage her, as does her science teacher, Ms. Curie (a wink to adult readers). When Cece and her best friend, Isaac, pair up for a science project, they choose zoology, brainstorming questions they might research. They decide to investigate whether dogs eat vegetables, using Cece’s schnauzer, Einstein, and the next day they head to Cece’s lab (inside her treehouse). Wearing white lab coats, the two observe their subject and then offer him different kinds of vegetables, alone and with toppings. Cece is discouraged when Einstein won’t eat them. She complains to her parents, “Maybe I’m not a real scientist after all….Our project was boring.” Just then, Einstein sniffs Cece’s dessert, leading her to try a new way to get Einstein to eat vegetables. Cece learns that “real scientists have fun finding answers too.” Harrison’s clean, bright illustrations add expression and personality to the story. Science report inserts are reminiscent of The Magic Schoolbus books, with less detail. Biracial Cece is a brown, freckled girl with curly hair; her father is white, and her mother has brown skin and long, black hair; Isaac and Ms. Curie both have pale skin and dark hair. While the book doesn’t pack a particularly strong emotional or educational punch, this endearing protagonist earns a place on the children’s STEM shelf.
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again. (glossary) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-249960-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute.
Readers bid farewell to a beloved canine character.
Momo is—or was—an adorable and very photogenic border collie owned by author Knapp. The many readers who loved him in the previous half-dozen books are in for a shock with this one. “Momo had died” is the stark reality—and there are no photographs of him here. Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be discerned under the mixed media). Previous books contained few or no words. Unfortunately, virtuosity behind a lens does not guarantee mastery of verse. The art here is accompanied by words that sometimes rhyme but never find a workable or predictable rhythm (“We’d fetch and we’d catch, / we’d run and we’d jump. Every day we found new / games to play”). It’s a pity, because the subject—a pet’s death—is an important one to address with children. Of course, Momo isn’t gone; he can still be found “everywhere” in memories. But alas, he can be found here only in the crude depictions of the darling dog so well known from the earlier books.
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693864
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
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