A chatty romp with a mild message for Christmas Day carnivores.
Horrid hints that people actually eat birds propel Skipper the pigeon and featherbrained buddy Dave into a desperate rescue mission.
Dave and Skipper, who narrates, are excited to consume some of the “crispy things and roasty things and buttered things and sugared things” dished up amid twinkly lights by the “Human Lady” at her annual winter Big Dinner Day family feast. Imagine their shock when the canary next door informs them that the main course for the upcoming Christmas feast will be…BIRD. Skipper can’t believe it; after all, the Human Lady rescued them. But a wrinkled label pulled from the garbage confirms the horrible truth! The two friends decide to investigate. They’re large of heart if not brain, as demonstrated in six previous adventures. The pair are derailed by an attack from lurking Mean Cat and a robin flitting in from the Scottish Highlands, who hijacks both the story and the frequent speech bubbles that come into play whenever the narrative breaks into full-out cartoon scenes. Their mission quickly devolves into a wacky free-for-all. Goofy, fast-paced banter between Skipper and Dave keeps this buddy comedy moving at a quick clip, even amid the more earnest moments, as the avian crew mulls the horrifying idea that birds could be food. Physical descriptions of humans are minimal.
A chatty romp with a mild message for Christmas Day carnivores. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780571379293
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
A nifty high-seas caper for chapter-book readers with a love of adventure and a yearning for treasure.
It’s not truffles but doubloons that tickle this porcine wayfarer’s fancy.
Funke and Meyer make another foray into chapter-book fare after Emma and the Blue Genie (2014). Here, mariner Stout Sam and deckhand Pip eke out a comfortable existence on Butterfly Island ferrying cargo to and fro. Life is good, but it takes an unexpected turn when a barrel washes ashore containing a pig with a skull-and-crossbones pendant around her neck. It soon becomes clear that this little piggy, dubbed Julie, has the ability to sniff out treasure—lots of it—in the sea. The duo is pleased with her skills, but pride goeth before the hog. Stout Sam hands out some baubles to the local children, and his largess attracts the unwanted attention of Barracuda Bill and his nasty minions. Now they’ve pignapped Julie, and it’s up to the intrepid sailors to save the porker and their own bacon. The succinct word count meets the needs of kids looking for early adventure fare. The tale is slight, bouncy, and amusing, though Julie is never the piratical buccaneer the book’s cover seems to suggest. Meanwhile, Meyer’s cheery watercolors are as comfortable diagramming the different parts of a pirate vessel as they are rendering the dread pirate captain himself.
A nifty high-seas caper for chapter-book readers with a love of adventure and a yearning for treasure. (Adventure. 7-9)Pub Date: June 23, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-37544-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2015
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