Digby and Percy are slated to return in additional adventures; whether they can win the contest to capture the interest of...
Mother-daughter, author-illustrator team Hughes and Vulliamy collaborate for a low-key tale with an old-fashioned feel, decidedly British flavor and cheerful illustrations.
Digby O’Day and his best friend, Percy, are anthropomorphic dogs in natty suits. Digby’s neighbor (and nemesis) Lou Ella is a stylish young woman with a fondness for fast cars. Secondary characters range from human (the members of the “friendly family,” among others), to badger (entrepreneurial brothers Don and Ron Barrakan), to various other, unnamed animals. The slight plot focuses on an auto race from one small town to another; the message, meanwhile, has more to do with kindness and altruism versus thoughtlessness and selfishness. Spelling has been Americanized, but some vocabulary may momentarily stump readers on this side of the Atlantic. Red-and-pink–tinged illustrations, created with pencil, ink and digital collage, appear on every page, breaking up the text, adding humor and clearly depicting the events as described in the straightforward text. A simple map allows readers to follow the racers along their routes. A two-page profile of Digby precedes the first chapter; car games, a quiz, drawing prompts, and brief bios of the author and illustrator as well as a preview of the next book follow the final one.
Digby and Percy are slated to return in additional adventures; whether they can win the contest to capture the interest of young readers and listeners remains to be seen. (Fiction. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7369-7
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Readers who prefer their sentimentality raw and still on the bone may go for this, but Marc Simont’s Stray Dog (2001) is...
An abandoned dog yearns for a new home with a young “sort-of” friend.
Each morning Chocolate wakes up in an abandoned windmill and spends the day lurking behind a fence, watching a child named Sarah. At last a bird asks him why he’s so dirty, and hearing his sad tale of abandonment (apparently because he was too big—“My bottom was huge!” he laments) when his former family went on vacation, the bird sings loudly until Sarah runs outside. It’s love at first sight or, as Blasco puts it, “they both felt a shiver run through their bodies. It was the beating of their hearts, which had become joined forever and ever.” Coco illustrates the syrupfest with watery painted images of doll-like human figures sporting painted red cheeks and a dog with a nose that varies in size in different views from merely humongous to face-swallowing. The array of dog collars on the endpapers has more visual appeal.
Readers who prefer their sentimentality raw and still on the bone may go for this, but Marc Simont’s Stray Dog (2001) is just one of many like episodes with the artistic and emotional depth this book lacks. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-84-16147-50-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cuento de Luz
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2015
A pretty but overworked addition to the well-stocked shelf of tributes to a silent but nonetheless eloquent voice for peace.
The story of “Hiroshima’s most famous victim” is matched to delicate sepia illustrations decorated with images of brightly patterned origami cranes.
Oozing sentimentality so gooey it’s a wonder the pages can be separated, this version of the often told tale is narrated by Sadako's cat. It opens with a peaceful August morning overshadowed by a “huge black cloud” before cutting ahead 10 years to Sadako’s hospitalization. The cat curls up in her lap to share visions of future outings together (which seems at best an insensitive brand of comfort). The cat recounts how the girl “fell gently asleep and flew away with 1000 paper cranes” and then embarks on a mission to “carry Sadako’s story out into the world.” Though the numerous folded cranes shine out against pale backdrops in the fine-lined illustrations, Loske depicts the cat as disquietingly eyeless until a final view and, along with Sadako and the other white-faced human figures, with fiery red cheek patches that look like clown makeup. In her afterword, the author assures readers that Sadako “actually lived,” but this mannered, anemic portrayal of that life isn’t likely to make them care.
A pretty but overworked addition to the well-stocked shelf of tributes to a silent but nonetheless eloquent voice for peace. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2015
ISBN: 978-988-8341-00-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: minedition
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2015
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