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FANCY DOGS

Name: FANCY DOGS
Author: Tini Malina
ISBN: 9780735846272

by Tini Malina ; illustrated by Tini Malina ; translated by Tammi Reichel ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 6, 2026

A hilarious mock exposé on snooty-looking pooches.

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The ungroomed truth about classy canines.

“Fancy Dogs have fancy hairdos. // Fancy Dogs wear fancy tutus. // Fancy Dogs sport fancy collars. // Fancy Dogs keep fancy hours.” So begins a series of pronouncements about these posh pups. These statements continue until the omniscient narrator suddenly decides to get real: “Nonetheless, and you know it’s true… // Fancy Dogs still gnaw on shoes. // Fancy Dogs also sniff their own bums. // And sometimes get fleas—where do those come from?” Even when they don’t scan, the rhymes are archly droll. Each illustration but the last, which features a fancy-dog menagerie, is centered on a red pooch with pointy ears, a long snout, and, more often than not, a look of bemusement—even when it’s raising its wineglass by a toilet (“And of course Fancy Dogs still drink from the loo”). Set against flat, cream-colored backdrops, Malina’s illustrations are minimalist beauties with the look of cut-paper compositions. Translated from German and first published in Switzerland, the book slyly sniffs at snobbery (perhaps not just the canine kind) while keeping readers entertained by a pup who’s swanky and stylish on the outside but an everydog on the inside. Or, as the narrator puts it in the book’s closing rhyme, “like any dog, Fancy Ones chase, leap, and prance… // for no Fancy Dog is just fancy-pants.”

A hilarious mock exposé on snooty-looking pooches. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2026

ISBN: 9780735846272

Page Count: 48

Publisher: NorthSouth

Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
SELMA—THE STORY OF A STELLAR SPIDER
by Tini Malina ; illustrated by Tini Malina ; translated by Tammi Reichel

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THE PUMPKIN THIEF

From the Leaf Thief series

by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nicola Slater ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 28, 2026

More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.

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Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.

Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.

More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: July 28, 2026

ISBN: 9781464268076

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE SUN THIEF
by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nicola Slater

- BOOK REVIEW
THE SNOW THIEF
by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nicola Slater

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BISON AND THE BUTTERFLY
by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nancy Leschnikoff

PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

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PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

by James Dean ; illustrated by James Dean ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 18, 2018

Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among

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Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.

If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”

Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)