A first-rate sharkfest, unusually nutritious for all its brevity.
Buzz and his buzzy buddy open a spinoff series of nonfiction early readers with an aquarium visit.
Buzz: “Like other fish, sharks breathe through gills.” Fly Guy: “GILLZZ.” Thus do the two pop-eyed cartoon tour guides squire readers past a plethora of cramped but carefully labeled color photos depicting dozens of kinds of sharks in watery settings, along with close-ups of skin, teeth and other anatomical features. In the bite-sized blocks of narrative text, challenging vocabulary words like “carnivores” and “luminescence” come with pronunciation guides and lucid in-context definitions. Despite all the flashes of dentifrice and references to prey and smelling blood in the water, there is no actual gore or chowing down on display. Sharks are “so cool!” proclaims Buzz at last, striding out of the gift shop. “I can’t wait for our next field trip!” (That will be Fly Guy Presents: Space, scheduled for September 2013.)
A first-rate sharkfest, unusually nutritious for all its brevity. (Informational easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-50771-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A strong, accessible diary story for readers seeking an adorable animal tale.
Bub the anxious pug tackles snow days and new neighbors in his second outing.
Bub, acclaimed by some as “the cutest pug on the planet,” at first shares the enthusiasm owner Bella expresses about snow days even though he doesn’t know what they are. Then Duchess the cat (mildly antagonistic, in typical feline fashion) rains on Bub’s parade by pointing out that snow is water—and Bub’s no fan of rain or baths. After a comedic and disastrous first attempt, Bub learns how to properly dress for snow and enjoy it. The outdoor fun’s cut short by mysterious noises coming from the new neighbor, which frighten Bella into thinking there’s a monster. Bub puts on a Sherlock Holmes get-up to investigate but becomes afraid himself of the new neighbor’s large dog. Finally, Bella meets Jack, who’s been working on a tree fort, and his dog, Luna, who is enthusiastically friendly. The story ends on a positive note, as they all happily work together on the fort. The full-color cartoon illustrations, especially of Bub, are adorably expressive and certain to please the age group. The generous font and format—short, diary-entry paragraphs and speech-bubble conversations—create a quick pace. Bub’s stylized emoji bubbles return and are most hilarious when used to express his nervous flatulence. Bella and Jack both present white.
A strong, accessible diary story for readers seeking an adorable animal tale. (Fantasy. 5-7)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-53006-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
A snug, funny round of hijinks by low dogs.
Housebound wiener dogs Augie and Perry get up to no good when left on their own.
Posing his pooches on four legs or, anthropomorphically, two (or even, at the beginning, as busts on stands), Falconer takes a break from his long-running Olivia series to proffer as winsome a doggy duo as ever was. Drawn with great and often hilariously expressive precision—and frequently placed on entirely blank backgrounds to call attention to the fact—the two dachshunds appear at first glance as dignified as “little Roman emperors.” Appearances can be deceiving, though: “Most of the time Augie looked more serious. Perry was all over the place.” As their human family, never seen (except once as light-skinned hands), is gone all day at work or school, the dogs look for ways to relieve their boredom…first by tussling over a ball, then by figuring out how to open the back door to an exciting world of flowers to water, a pool to splash in, and, best of all, a lawn to excavate (“Dachshunds love to dig”). The sound of a car pulling in may touch off some momentary panic (“We’re going to get in TROUBLE, Augie!”), but dachshunds are also smart enough to run back inside and exude innocence convincingly enough to earn treats rather than punishment. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A snug, funny round of hijinks by low dogs. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: June 28, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-295447-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Michael di Capua/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
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