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
Silly reads for new readers to dig into.
A turnip-loving duck and its friends defend their garden.
Alas, the duck, sheep, dog, and donkey immediately discover the eponymous pest in the garden when it (a groundhog?) eats a row of beans. The duck is frantic that turnips are next, but instead the pest eats the sheep’s favorite crop: corn. Peas occupy the next row, and the pest gobbles them up, too. Instead of despairing, however, the donkey cries, “Yippee! He ate ALL THE PEAS!” and catching the others’ puzzled looks, continues, “I don’t like peas.” After this humorous twist, the only uneaten row is sown with turnips, and the duck leaps to devour them before the pest can do so. In a satisfying, funny conclusion, the duck beams when the dog, sheep, and donkey resolve to plant a new garden and protect it with a fence, only to find out that it will exclude not just the groundhog, but the duck, too. A companion release, What Is Chasing Duck?, has the same brand of humor and boldly outlined figures rendered in a bright palette, but its storyline doesn’t come together as well since it’s unclear why the duck is scared and why the squirrel that was chasing it doesn’t recognize the others when they turn and chase him at book’s end.
Silly reads for new readers to dig into. (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: June 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-544-94165-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
There are 17 kinds of penguins in the Southern Hemisphere, and Gibbons (The Art Box, p. 1034, etc.) introduces them all in this appealing beginning science title. She describes their general life cycle, from the courtship and nest-building of the parents to the hatching of the young, their growth, and adulthood. The handsome illustrations in watercolor and ink are framed with icy blue and white borders. Awkward birds waddle on the glaciers, huddle against subzero temperatures, and glide in frigid waters; downy chicks peer from between their parents’ feet while lumpish fuzzy adolescent penguins wait for their parents to return with food. Gibbons also describes the threat to penguins from pollution, hunting, and tourists. A handsome, sensibly simple title on a popular creature. (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 15, 1998
ISBN: 0-8234-1388-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1998
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