While her oblivious mother’s off answering a phone call, an increasingly frantic young Rose finds her bedtime routine interrupted by the successive arrival of a lively formal dress party, a magician in need of an assistant, and a dance band in need of a drummer. Boiger illustrates the burgeoning chaos with a wispy, whimsical elegance reminiscent of Hilary Knight’s art, placing a very small, tousled redhead in gracious, upper-crust surroundings, and adorning the array of partyers in Depression-era evening garb. Hearing Mama hang up at last, Rose firmly ushers the interlopers out the door, and collapses into bed just in time. Composed in loosely rhymed verse to a chorus of “It’s hard to believe, but Rose did ALL that / before Mama had finished her quick little chat,” this reads like an arch amalgam of Eloise and Peggy Rathmann’s 10 Minutes till Bedtime (1998), and is sure to send privileged tykes (and their parents) off to bed with a case of giggles. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-689-85170-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Richard Jackson/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2005
Categories: CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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BOOK REVIEW
Epistolary dispatches from the eternal canine/feline feud.
Simon the cat is angry. He had done a good job taking care of his boy, Andy, but now that Andy’s parents are divorced, a dog named Baxter has moved into Andy’s dad’s house. Simon believes that there isn’t enough room in Andy’s life for two furry friends, so he uses the power of the pen to get Baxter to move out. Inventively for the early-chapter-book format, the story is told in letters written back and forth; Simon’s are impeccably spelled on personalized stationery while Baxter’s spelling slowly improves through the letters he scrawls on scraps of paper. A few other animals make appearances—a puffy-lipped goldfish who for some reason punctuates her letter with “Blub…blub…” seems to be the only female character (cued through stereotypical use of eyelashes and red lipstick), and a mustachioed snail ferries the mail to and fro. White-appearing Andy is seen playing with both animals as a visual background to the text, as is his friend Noah (a dark-skinned child who perhaps should not be nicknamed “N Man”). Cat lovers will appreciate Simon’s prickliness while dog aficionados will likely enjoy Baxter’s obtuse enthusiasm, and all readers will learn about the time and patience it takes to overcome conflict and jealousy with someone you dislike.
An effective early chapter book conveyed in a slightly overdone gag. (Fiction. 6-8)Pub Date: May 12, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4492-2
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There is something profoundly elemental going on in Smalls’s book: the capturing of a moment of unmediated joy. It’s not melodramatic, but just a Saturday in which an African-American father and son immerse themselves in each other’s company when the woman of the house is away. Putting first things first, they tidy up the house, with an unheralded sense of purpose motivating their actions: “Then we clean, clean, clean the windows,/wipe, wipe, wash them right./My dad shines in the windows’ light.” When their work is done, they head for the park for some batting practice, then to the movies where the boy gets to choose between films. After a snack, they work their way homeward, racing each other, doing a dance step or two, then “Dad takes my hand and slows down./I understand, and we slow down./It’s a long, long walk./We have a quiet talk and smile.” Smalls treats the material without pretense, leaving it guileless and thus accessible to readers. Hays’s artwork is wistful and idyllic, just as this day is for one small boy. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-316-79899-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
Categories: CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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