A sweet tale about a child’s wild imagination.
In this picture book, a little girl and a polar bear love marshmallows.
Amelia is a girl with light brown skin, big brown eyes, and wavy dark hair. Her best friend, Paco, is three times Amelia’s size, with white fur, a large black nose, and expressive eyes. On the story’s first page, readers see a drawing of the polar bear on Amelia’s bedroom rug. The pals are down to their last marshmallow, and Paco gives it to the girl to eat. Then Amelia has a brainstorm: “Paco, I have the best idea ever!…If you plant an apple seed, a tree full of apples will grow. So, let’s plant a marshmallow tree! I already know how to do it.” Paco is skeptical but he digs a hole; Amelia plants their last marshmallow, and they cover it with soil and wait. Nothing. They try watering the soil and giving it sugar. Finally, Amelia remembers that plants need love to grow, so the two friends sing to the marshmallow and tell jokes until suddenly it sprouts into a huge tree. Bertran’s full-page illustrations are bold and colorful and show the whole day, with stars filling the evening sky as Amelia and Paco hope their tree will materialize. Gamarra’s engaging story begins and ends in Amelia’s bedroom, so the sense of her fantasy world is bookended by tangible clues about her big imagination. Paco remains charming and lovable even when he gets “hangry” waiting for the tree to sprout.
A sweet tale about a child’s wild imagination.Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2023
ISBN: 9798988583424
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Marshmallow Tree Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 27, 2023
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
Funny and thought provoking.
The hidden history of one of the world’s most popular pieces of furniture.
An anthropomorphized fox in a purple jacket and green pants stands on a stage, showcasing various kinds of sofas and what they’re used for: eating, sleeping, dance parties, and sliding down pillows. Just as the fox is about to provide a demonstration of that last activity, complete with a drawing, an opossum in a gray pinstriped suit emerges: “You can’t show that to children! Someone could break their neck!” Using a tape dispenser–like machine, the opossum covers up the offending image with a black censor bar. The fox continues to expose “truths” about couches: Some of them grow on farms (“Where do you think we got the term couch potato?”); they have an insatiable hunger, which leads to objects disappearing among the cushions; and some are actually aliens in disguise. The opossum is skeptical, but when a chaotic parade of couches enter the scene to prove the fox right, the opossum is forced to reconsider. This is a hilarious send-up of conspiracy theories and adults’ attempts to shelter children from the real world. Depicting elegantly attired creatures, Liniers’ muted artwork contrasts humorously with the surreal scenarios depicted. The dialogue between the fox and opossum is entertaining, but grown-ups might want to pre-read before read-alouds to avoid tripping over some phrasing (e.g., “secret elite couch enforcement squadron”).
Funny and thought provoking. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 23, 2024
ISBN: 9780593619131
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
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