An enjoyable tale, but one that should be read with parental guidance.
A little girl and a gadget get into some mischief in Keith and Gordon’s debut picture book.
Claire’s parents order a smart speaker that responds to requests. Her mother asks it to play NPR (Keith is an NPR correspondent), and her dad asks it to put things on the family’s shopping list. Because the speaker never says no, Claire secretly adds a wild assortment to the list, including a guitar, a robot, a Tesla, stickers, and even “poop”; in a relatable turn, she requests poop “a few more times because it made her laugh.” Soon, however, the items start showing up at the door. (Yes, including poop, which arrives as bags of manure.) Realizing her mistake, Claire confesses to her parents, and all the stuff is returned with one exception: a puppy. Overall, this book delivers a tale that’s amusing and fun. However, its ending, which seems to reward Claire’s mischief, may require grown-ups to advise young readers not to imitate the protagonist. Fiddy’s subdued watercolor illustrations are delightful and full of jokes for adults, such as a delivery truck from All Things Delivered. Claire and her family are all portrayed with a range of skin tones.
An enjoyable tale, but one that should be read with parental guidance.Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-73667-570-0
Page Count: 52
Publisher: Rock-It Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
Just the thing for anyone with a Grinch-y tree of their own in the yard.
A grouchy sapling on a Christmas tree farm finds that there are better things than lights and decorations for its branches.
A Grinch among the other trees on the farm is determined never to become a sappy Christmas tree—and never to leave its spot. Its determination makes it so: It grows gnarled and twisted and needle-less. As time passes, the farm is swallowed by the suburbs. The neighborhood kids dare one another to climb the scary, grumpy-looking tree, and soon, they are using its branches for their imaginative play, the tree serving as a pirate ship, a fort, a spaceship, and a dragon. But in winter, the tree stands alone and feels bereft and lonely for the first time ever, and it can’t look away from the decorated tree inside the house next to its lot. When some parents threaten to cut the “horrible” tree down, the tree thinks, “Not now that my limbs are full of happy children,” showing how far it has come. Happily for the tree, the children won’t give up so easily, and though the tree never wished to become a Christmas tree, it’s perfectly content being a “trick or tree.” Martinez’s digital illustrations play up the humorous dichotomy between the happy, aspiring Christmas trees (and their shoppers) and the grumpy tree, and the diverse humans are satisfyingly expressive.
Just the thing for anyone with a Grinch-y tree of their own in the yard. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-7335-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
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