A lighthearted and quirky walk through the woods.
Celebrated literary spouses Smith and Laird follow up their debut picture book, The Surprise (2022), with another tale of Maud the spirited, judo-loving guinea pig.
As Maud’s owner, Kit, frets about an upcoming school camping trip, her pets privately agree with her misgivings. Dad reassures her, “It’ll all be over before you know it,” but Maud remembers he said the same thing about an injection at the vet’s office. So she stows away in Kit’s backpack; after all, Kit will surely need a friend. But when Maud arrives at camp, Kit’s nowhere to be found. Perhaps Maud’s the one who needs a pal, and she soon finds one in Harvey the hedgehog, who teaches her all about forest survival. Fox’s endearing cartoon art depicts anthropomorphized, friendly-faced animals: Maud sports her customary martial arts uniform, and both she and Harvey walk upright. Mixing vignettes, panels, and full-page spreads, the illustrations draw clever parallels between Kit’s and Maud’s activities: As Kit and the other kids traverse a rope course, Maud and Harvey walk across a log, and as the campers sit by a roaring bonfire, the animals gather around their own, teeny-tiny fire. Though the text is on the wordy side, it pairs well with the art; the forest facts Harvey imparts and the information on camping easily mesh with the more whimsical elements. Kit is biracial: her mother presents Black, while her father is pale-skinned.
A lighthearted and quirky walk through the woods. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: June 10, 2025
ISBN: 9798217038725
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned.
All the reasons why a daughter needs a mother.
Each spread features an adorable cartoon animal parent-child pair on the recto opposite a rhyming verse: “I’ll always support you in giving your all / in every endeavor, the big and the small, / and be there to catch you in case you should fall. / I hope you believe this is true.” A virtually identical book, Why a Daughter Needs a Dad, publishes simultaneously. Both address standing up for yourself and your values, laughing to ease troubles, being thankful, valuing friendship, persevering and dreaming big, being truthful, thinking through decisions, and being open to differences, among other topics. Though the sentiments/life lessons here and in the companion title are heartfelt and important, there are much better ways to deliver them. These books are likely to go right over children’s heads and developmental levels (especially with the rather advanced vocabulary); their parents are the more likely audience, and for them, the books provide some coaching in what kids need to hear. The two books are largely interchangeable, especially since there are so few references to mom or dad, but one spread in each book reverts to stereotype: Dad balances the two-wheeler, and mom helps with clothing and hair styles. Since the books are separate, it aids in customization for many families.
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned. (Picture book. 4-8, adult)Pub Date: May 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6781-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
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
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