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CAT & DOG

Name: CAT & DOG
Author: Tullio Corda
ISBN: 978-1-63655-002-2

A TALE OF OPPOSITES

by Tullio Corda ; illustrated by Tullio Corda ; translated by Taylor Barrett Gaines ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 7, 2021

Stylish, but its story doesn’t stand out.

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A cat and dog who live together explore opposites.

A red cat and a blue dog tell a story that, on each spread, features pairs of opposites, usually one word each. On the first spread, the cat watches the dog sleep on a rug: “Awake” and “Asleep.” The book’s type colors match the protagonists’ coloring: red for the cat and blue for the dog. The cat—sly, mischievous, and usually annoyed—likes to antagonize the dog, starting on a spread where it attacks the resting dog (“Brave” and “Afraid’). While the dog is “upset” after the cat topples a potted plant onto its head, the cat is “unconcerned.” They head outside, unsuccessfully chase a bird, and end up hugging (“Friends!”), though the cat still looks bothered by the affection. Readers can remove the book’s dust jacket to see the cat looking over his shoulders at readers on the “Front” cover; on the “Back” cover, the cat is now fully turned away. The pairings of opposites are straightforward, though one is unexpected: “Oops!” as the cat falls off a tree branch while stalking the bird, who says, “Phew!” Though individual moments can be amusing, both dog and cat are rendered in ways that convey little to no expression or character, which hinders engagement. The story, translated from French, is scant, and plenty more concept books about opposites exist that offer more substance.

Stylish, but its story doesn’t stand out. (Picture book. 3-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-63655-002-2

Page Count: 36

Publisher: Red Comet Press

Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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)