Bow-WOW! Who needs 100 dogs when just one cuddly, fluffy, perfect pup will do?
A girl uses cunning to get exactly what she wants.
“I want 100 dogs,” the child muses. Her nonplussed parents raise a practical question: “Where would 100 dogs sleep?” Their daughter has a ready answer: “My 100 dogs will sleep on my bed.” Parents: “More likely, 100 dogs would sleep on you.” Reconsidering, the girl asks for 90 dogs. But how will she walk them? After all, 90 dogs would walk her. And so it goes, with the child subsequently decreasing her request by 10 each time and her parents asking realistic questions about that quantity, listening to her responses, then explaining why her plans still won’t work. Examples: 70 dogs need lots of food; grooming 30 dogs would be very messy; and—unhappiest prospect—guess who’d clean up after 10 dogs “go number 2”? Finally, the child “settles” for just one and chooses a floppy-eared pooch at a shelter. Her parents can’t believe they talked her out of 100 dogs; the girl can’t believe she talked her parents into getting one—clearly, her plan all along. This is a humorous, imaginative tale with a comically ironic ending; the child-parent relationship is close, warm, and playful. There’s good counting-backward-by-10s practice here, too. The digital illustrations are funny, with each parental question and the girl’s responses vividly, dynamically portrayed. The gap-toothed daughter and both parents are tan-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Bow-WOW! Who needs 100 dogs when just one cuddly, fluffy, perfect pup will do? (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2023
ISBN: 9781797214405
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Quirky, familiar fun for series devotees.
After Duncan finds his crayons gone—yet again—letters arrive, detailing their adventures in friendship.
Eleven crayons send missives from their chosen spots throughout Duncan’s home (and one from his classroom). Red enjoys the thrill of extinguishing “pretend fires” with Duncan’s toy firetruck. White, so often dismissed as invisible, finds a new calling subbing in for the missing queen on the black-and-white chessboard. “Now everyone ALWAYS SEES ME!…(Well, half the time!)” Pink’s living the dream as a pastry chef helming the Breezy Bake Oven, “baking everything from little cupcakes…to…OTHER little cupcakes!” Teal, who’s hitched a ride to school in Duncan’s backpack, meets the crayons in the boy’s desk and writes, “Guess what? I HAVE A TWIN! How come you never told me?” Duncan wants to see his crayons and “meet their new friends.” A culminating dinner party assembles the crayons and their many guests: a table tennis ball, dog biscuits, a well-loved teddy bear, and more. The premise—personified crayons, away and back again—is well-trammeled territory by now, after over a dozen books and spinoffs, and Jeffers once more delivers his signature cartooning and hand-lettering. Though the pages lack the laugh-out-loud sight gags and side-splittingly funny asides of previous outings, readers—especially fans of the crayons’ previous outings—will enjoy checking in on their pals.
Quirky, familiar fun for series devotees. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 9780593622360
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
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BOOK REVIEW
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