Unless you’ve got a porcupine who needs it, hand this to the trained and not the trainees.
The long and short of a pointy potty predicament, from a New Yorker cartoonist and debut picture-book creator.
Readers undisturbed by the image of bright yellow urine dripping from porcupine quills will probably be the best possible audience for this entry into the potty-training genre. A pair of children (they are biracial, with a black dad and white mom) take it upon themselves to housetrain their new porcupine pet. She can’t be diapered, the cat box is a nonstarter, the backyard is too public, and spreading newspapers is a bust. Could potty training be the answer? Alas, this porcupine is reticent to even attempt the job, thus leading the children to try every conceivable method of trickery and persuasion. In the end, the easiest solution (asking nicely) turns out to be the best—and the most anticlimactic. Title notwithstanding, this isn’t a guide for teaching tots the ins and outs of toilet training but rather a humorous descent into absurdity with a scatological edge best appreciated by those who have fairly recently conquered the potty or who are watching younger siblings master the feat. The porcupine herself is charming, and Toro’s visual gags and silly watercolors mostly make up for the flat ending. At best, droll, at worst, kind of gross.
Unless you’ve got a porcupine who needs it, hand this to the trained and not the trainees. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 12, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-316-49539-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Parent-child love and affection, appealingly presented, with the added attraction of the seasonal content and lack of gender...
A polar-bear parent speaks poetically of love for a child.
A genderless adult and cub travel through the landscapes of an arctic year. Each of the softly rendered double-page paintings has a very different feel and color palette as the pair go through the seasons, walking through wintry ice and snow and green summer meadows, cavorting in the blue ocean, watching whales, and playing beside musk oxen. The rhymes of the four-line stanzas are not forced, as is the case too often in picture books of this type: “When cold, winter winds / blow the leaves far and wide, / You’ll cross the great icebergs / with me by your side.” On a dark, snowy night, the loving parent says: “But for now, cuddle close / while the stars softly shine. // I’ll always be yours, / and you’ll always be mine.” As the last illustration shows the pair curled up for sleep, young listeners will be lulled to sweet dreams by the calm tenor of the pictures and the words. While far from original, this timeless theme is always in demand, and the combination of delightful illustrations and poetry that scans well make this a good choice for early-childhood classrooms, public libraries, and one-on-one home read-alouds.
Parent-child love and affection, appealingly presented, with the added attraction of the seasonal content and lack of gender restrictions. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68010-070-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
Willems’ formula is still a winner.
The pigeon is back, and he is filthy!
Readers haven’t seen the pigeon for a couple of years, not since The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? (2012), and apparently he hasn’t bathed in all that time. Per the usual routine, the bus driver (clad in shower cap and bathrobe) opens the story by asking readers to help convince the pigeon to take a bath. Though he’s covered in grime, the obstreperous bird predictably resists. He glares at readers and suggests that maybe they need baths. With the turn of the page, Willems anticipates readers’ energetic denials: The pigeon demands, “YEAH! When was the last time YOU had a bath?!” Another beat allows children to supply the answer. “Oh.” A trio of flies that find him repulsive (“P.U.!”) convinces him it’s time. One spread with 29 separate panels depicts the pigeon adjusting the bath (“Too wet!…Too cold.…Too reflective”) before the page turn reveals him jumping in with a spread-filling “SPLASH!” Readers accustomed to the pigeon formula will note that here the story breaks from its normal rhythms; instead of throwing a tantrum, the pigeon discovers what readers already know: “This is FUN!” All the elements are in place, including page backgrounds that modulate from dirty browns to fresh, clean colors and endpapers that bookend the story (including a very funny turnabout for the duckling, here a rubber bath toy).
Willems’ formula is still a winner. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-9087-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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