A privileged piglet adjusts to life with triplets in Dewan’s sequel to Crispin: The Pig Who Had It All (not reviewed). Dewan’s opening spread shows the boy, alone, riding a scooter in front of his rambling, futuristic home. Later, he tools around inside with his friend Penny, a floppy-eared rabbit, and Nick, a blue raccoon. “How would you like a little brother or sister?” his mother asks as she works out on an elliptical machine. The idea has never crossed his mind, but, being a sensible pig, Crispin goes to Penny’s crowded apartment to learn what life is like with siblings. Lively and humorously detailed, Dewan’s illustration reveals bunnies on the counter, the floor, in the cupboard and drawer. How bad could one baby be, Crispin thinks. When his mother gives birth to triplets Crispin isn’t sure what to do and with all the attention lavished on the babies, he feels left out. The situation worsens when the babies come home. Grouped in trios, a series of side-by-side vignettes portray a growing trend. On the left, guests arrive bearing gifts for Crispin; smaller illustrations appear on the right, reflecting the boy’s diminished spirit as the guests go off “to play with the piglets” and leave him standing alone. Any child who’s ever had to make room for siblings will sympathize with Crispin and recognize themselves as he eases into the role of big brother. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: March 11, 2003
ISBN: 0-385-74633-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2002
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with...
Reynolds and Brown have crafted a Halloween tale that balances a really spooky premise with the hilarity that accompanies any mention of underwear.
Jasper Rabbit needs new underwear. Plain White satisfies him until he spies them: “Creepy underwear! So creepy! So comfy! They were glorious.” The underwear of his dreams is a pair of radioactive-green briefs with a Frankenstein face on the front, the green color standing out all the more due to Brown’s choice to do the entire book in grayscale save for the underwear’s glowing green…and glow they do, as Jasper soon discovers. Despite his “I’m a big rabbit” assertion, that glow creeps him out, so he stuffs them in the hamper and dons Plain White. In the morning, though, he’s wearing green! He goes to increasing lengths to get rid of the glowing menace, but they don’t stay gone. It’s only when Jasper finally admits to himself that maybe he’s not such a big rabbit after all that he thinks of a clever solution to his fear of the dark. Brown’s illustrations keep the backgrounds and details simple so readers focus on Jasper’s every emotion, writ large on his expressive face. And careful observers will note that the underwear’s expression also changes, adding a bit more creep to the tale.
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with Dr. Seuss’ tale of animate, empty pants. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0298-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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