A warm, joyful approach to teaching one of life’s important practical considerations.
Filas emphasizes financial responsibility alongside the joys of owning a pet in this illustrated children’s book.
Enamored by the pictures on an animal shelter’s website, young Fizzy and her brother, Jack, ask their mom if they can get a dog from there. Jack explains his inspiration: “My teacher adopted a dog from this place last week, and she said there were so many puppies that needed a home.” Mom wisely reminds the siblings that having a pet is a lot of work, and can be expensive, as well. So Fizzy and Jack research the costs involved in adopting a puppy, from food and vaccinations to toys and a leash, and Mom adds the total to the family budget. The kids make a plan to save money to contribute to caring for a new puppy. They later visit the shelter and meet and adopt “a little brown pup that looked just like a fuzzy teddy bear.” The family call their new dog Bingo, and the kids keep up their end of the bargain to help fund the pet’s care. Toward the end of the book, Fizzy and Jack start a dog-walking business to raise money and look after Bingo at the same time. Roffler’s cartoon illustrations depict a family with pale skin; background characters have a range of skin tones. An image of Fizzy walking a pack of neighborhood dogs on leashes at a park includes a person using a wheelchair, feeding ducks at a pond nearby. The pencil and watercolor illustrations, in muted colors, are essential to the storytelling. The book explains what a budget is and how to make one without being either condescending or brash. Pages dedicated mostly (and sometimes solely) to illustrations reveal fun details of how the kids make their budget, do chores and start a lemonade stand to raise money, and enjoy time with their new pup. The prose is simple and elegant, with dialogue that serves the story and adds color to the characters.
A warm, joyful approach to teaching one of life’s important practical considerations.Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9798989380749
Page Count: 36
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
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)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
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
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2026
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