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PROBABLY A NARWHAL

Send this one back out to sea.

Narwhals paint on walls—don’t they?

With its long twisted horn (actually a canine tooth), this member of the whale family is not very familiar to most children. The bespectacled kid narrator who has just created an enormous mess declares that “a narwhal is a rainbow-painting, elephant-sized, purple polka-dotted, flying pie maker” in an attempt to shift responsibility for the havoc on to the bluish mammal with the flippers and the horn who just happens to be in the house. Well, the narwhal begs to differ. How does the kid know about narwhals? The narwhal manages to convince the kid that it is the real deal, a fact confirmed by a check on the kid’s smartphone. Conceding, the narrator starts cleaning up the mess, but the action doesn’t stop there. When the narwhal plays a sneaky trick, is the kid fooled? The usual happy ending for a silly picture book takes place, and the kid and the narwhal end up becoming friends. Different typefaces are used for the two characters’ speech (there is no narrative text); the scratchy cartoon pictures are amusing and full of action; and the introduction of a rare mammal makes for a somewhat original twist on the silly picture book. Unfortunately, the setup is too over-the-top to sustain engagement with what is in the end a fairly thin gag stretched out over many pages. The kid has peachy skin and long, straight, black hair. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 38.2% of actual size.)

Send this one back out to sea. (Picture book. 5-7)

Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-62979-581-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Boyds Mills

Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020

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PUG'S SNOW DAY

From the Diary of a Pug series , Vol. 2

A strong, accessible diary story for readers seeking an adorable animal tale.

Bub the anxious pug tackles snow days and new neighbors in his second outing.

Bub, acclaimed by some as “the cutest pug on the planet,” at first shares the enthusiasm owner Bella expresses about snow days even though he doesn’t know what they are. Then Duchess the cat (mildly antagonistic, in typical feline fashion) rains on Bub’s parade by pointing out that snow is water—and Bub’s no fan of rain or baths. After a comedic and disastrous first attempt, Bub learns how to properly dress for snow and enjoy it. The outdoor fun’s cut short by mysterious noises coming from the new neighbor, which frighten Bella into thinking there’s a monster. Bub puts on a Sherlock Holmes get-up to investigate but becomes afraid himself of the new neighbor’s large dog. Finally, Bella meets Jack, who’s been working on a tree fort, and his dog, Luna, who is enthusiastically friendly. The story ends on a positive note, as they all happily work together on the fort. The full-color cartoon illustrations, especially of Bub, are adorably expressive and certain to please the age group. The generous font and format—short, diary-entry paragraphs and speech-bubble conversations—create a quick pace. Bub’s stylized emoji bubbles return and are most hilarious when used to express his nervous flatulence. Bella and Jack both present white.

A strong, accessible diary story for readers seeking an adorable animal tale. (Fantasy. 5-7)

Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-338-53006-3

Page Count: 80

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019

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THE BUDDY BENCH

Inviting.

A story inspired by a real-life effort to achieve social inclusion.

Rhyming text enriched by energetic, cartoon-style illustrations follows the diverse students in Miss Mellon’s class at recess. Most of the children dive into play with peers, but some feel timid or excluded. Those at play are initially oblivious to the discomfort of the others, but then a child named Jake notices someone using a crutch and hanging back from play. “ ‘It’s my leg,’ said Gabe. ‘I can’t run in a cast, / so I never get picked, not even last.’ ” Affable Jake responds, “Come play with us anyway. There’s time to spare,” causing Gabe to reply, “Wait a minute …I’ll be right there.” This interaction creates a compassionate domino effect of inclusion, with Gabe reaching out to another kid on the sidelines, and so on. When the children (and, oddly, an elephant and dragon) go inside after recess they ask, “how could we say, / without using words, that we all want to play?” Miss Mellon says they need “a seat / to wait for a friend or a buddy to meet.” It’s unfortunate the solution—the eponymous buddy bench—originates with an adult rather than the compassionate children themselves, especially since the author’s note reveals that it was a first grader who proposed the first one in the United States, but the generosity on display is heartening.

Inviting. (Picture book. 5-7)

Pub Date: Aug. 12, 2019

ISBN: 978-0-88448-697-8

Page Count: 36

Publisher: Tilbury House

Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019

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