An intriguing whodunit couched in a simple story of friendship and indulgence.
In a community of animal friends, personal items are going missing.
It’s a late autumn day. Fox has lost a sock, Hare has lost a mitten, Badger has lost a boot. “Lost” signs are made for the missing pairs and posted on neighboring tree trunks. Bear seems to have a solution and encourages everyone to climb in his cart to ride across the meadow and to the top of the hill, where they come upon a pear tree. “No, no, no! NO! / Not pear, Bear, PAIR!” Bear’s misunderstanding is loudly acknowledged by the others when suddenly they notice, at the bottom of the hill, Dog harboring a spread of all their missing pairs. Realistic acrylic paintings in deep hues with textured brush strokes to elicit the furry/fluffy coats and whiskers of the animals provide clues throughout. Looking carefully, readers see several illustrations with Dog in the far background running with one or another of the items seen on the lost signs. Other details, such as a family of hedgehogs each with a windfall apple stuck on its prickles, charm. The easily read text, conveyed mostly in dialogue and playfully incorporating the occasional rhyme, brings the mystery to a close as Dog suggests they “Share?” while rightful ownership is restored. Despite Dog’s initial behavior of innocent appropriation, a well-meaning atmosphere of cooperation and camaraderie persists. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An intriguing whodunit couched in a simple story of friendship and indulgence. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-284289-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, springtime-themed reworking of a beloved tale.
The classic picture book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989) gets a makeover for Easter as the letters of the alphabet locate and decorate eggs.
The mission is simple: “Chicka chicka peek peek. / Everybody seek seek! / Find all the eggs / in the pretty pink tree.” The letters are making their way up the flowering tree in search of the hidden eggs when a “SNEEZE!” scatters everyone and the eggs fall and crack. Luckily, a bunny hops by with a haul of new ones, which the letters then paint and bedazzle, eventually sharing the newly decorated eggs with a group of bunnies. This picture book is a successfully Easter-fied version of the original: The letters go up; the letters fall down. Truly, though, that’s all the preschool crowd needs. Chung’s illustrations are simple and familiar, a direct echo of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. The letters appear in colorful, bold, block form. The book has few added details, just focal images like the tree and its pink flowers, the colorful eggs, tufts of grass, and some friendly rabbits. The alphabet appears in order (both upper- and lowercase letters) at the book’s open and close. The rhyming text follows the iconic cadence of the source material, making for a worthy read-aloud that will keep little hands turning pages.
A sweet, springtime-themed reworking of a beloved tale. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2026
ISBN: 9781665990646
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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