This celebration of differences displays great respect for readers’ intelligence and yields more with each reading.
The amphibian in this Australian import is actually a child who likes to dress as something else because it “makes me feel brave.”
The child had tried being a cat, but good friend Camille discreetly suggested (after watching a friend run repeatedly from a dog) that a different animal might work better. DeGennaro’s introduction places the two on opposite sides of the gutter, highlighting their differences. The narrator sports one-piece pajamas, green slippers, and a green, knitted cap with two froglike bulges on top. Behind the narrator are collages of the tadpole’s life cycle. Camille, wearing her signature red polka-dot boots, is surrounded by graphs and numbers. Although the protagonist knows that when Camille recites the six times table it signals hunger, her repetition and wriggling during measurements for a matching costume are maddening; the narrator’s frustrated outburst causes her to walk off the page. These rosy-cheeked white children, created on the taupe pages with ink, pencil, and Conte crayons, exude personality—through lopsided goggles and smiles, gentle gestures, and bodies that relate to each other as if through gravitational pull. Sequential panels, thought bubbles, and backgrounds are expertly designed with mathematical symbols and frogs, enhancing comprehension of the characters’ interior worlds. The visuals surrounding their endearing embrace show how unspoken layers contribute to communication and reconciliation.
This celebration of differences displays great respect for readers’ intelligence and yields more with each reading. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7130-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Charming and utterly delightful.
The doggie duo make a welcome return.
In this second entry in the Doggo and Pupper early-reader series, the canine pals’ distinctive personalities come more fully to the fore, and readers discover how close they truly are. Worrywart Pupper may be afraid of giant squirrels, but he longs to be a hero like Wonder Dog, whose exploits he marvels at on TV. He also has real drumming talent, nurtured by Doggo. Doggo is fully realized as a music-loving, tenderhearted, reassuring elder statesman who always has Pupper’s back. In this outing, the pair also enjoy watching the babies in a family of neighboring nesting birds learn to fly. The dog pals’ mutual interest in music, a concert the friends plan to attend in the local park, and a helpless fledgling who hasn’t quite found its wings and requires rescuing—all these plot points culminate in a heartwarming ending that delivers a wonderful message about patience, kindness, and selflessness. Doggo and Pupper may not actually save the world here, but they do offer up a lovely reading experience for emergent readers through simple, dialogue-laden prose that beginning readers should be able to master readily. As in the first series title, the colorful collage and digital illustrations are energetic and endearing. “Pupper’s Guide to Being a Hero,” a 10-step list with suggestions such as “Be helpful” and “Share what you have,” concludes the book. Seen only briefly, the dogs’ owners appear to be light-skinned.
Charming and utterly delightful. (Chapter book. 5-8)Pub Date: March 22, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-62100-9
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
Something of the flipside to the team’s The Other Side (2001), this is a great book for teaching kindness
Woodson and Lewis’ latest collaboration unfolds with harsh beauty and the ominousness of opportunities lost.
Narrator Chloe is a little grade-school diva who decides with casual hubris that the new girl, Maya, is just not good enough. Woodson shows through Chloe’s own words how she and her friends completely ignore Maya, with her raggedy shoes and second-hand clothes, rebuffing her every overture. Readers never learn precisely why Chloe won’t return Maya’s smile or play jacks or jump rope with her. Those who have weathered the trenches of childhood understand that such decisions are not about reason; they are about power. The matter-of-fact tone of Chloe’s narration paired against the illustrations' visual isolation of Maya creates its own tension. Finally, one day, a teacher demonstrates the ripple effect of kindness, inspiring Chloe—but Maya disappears from the classroom. Suddenly, Chloe is left holding a pebble with the weight of a stone tablet. She gets a hard lesson in missed opportunities. Ripples, good and bad, have repercussions. And sometimes second chances are only the stuff of dreams. Lewis dazzles with frame-worthy illustrations, masterful use of light guiding readers’ emotional responses.
Something of the flipside to the team’s The Other Side (2001), this is a great book for teaching kindness . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-399-24652-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
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