A fetching reminder to look for what brings us together.
Visitors to a dog park find common ground, even though they don’t look the same—or even belong to the same species.
Actually, Armando and Scurry—a border collie and a border collie mix, respectively—do resemble one another (“I mean,” says one, “we totally match.” “Yup. You said it”), but that’s the last time that mere looks come into play. Scurry and golden retriever Mango match up over their love of playing ball, Armando and fluffy little Lucille Snowball bond over a shared delight in sticking their heads out of car windows, and other dogs chime in: “Hey! Wet food or dry food?” “I’m on Team Dry.” “Hydrant? Or bush?” They don’t just break off into pairs, either; several like to do tricks or chase squirrels, while others prefer just to sit and watch. One isn’t even a dog, but a sweater-clad ferret who silently but expressively “matches” with Armando after the latter asks tentatively, “Are you friendly?” Just to make the point explicit, terrier mix Button, holding a microphone, provides knowing commentary: “You can’t always tell right away, can you?” In Glick’s idyllic cartoon scenes, humans of diverse hue, including one who uses a wheelchair, stay in the background until the time comes for a group portrait and a collective “WE ALL MATCH!” Best of all, character cards for the eight animals at the end offer readers opportunities to keep making connections within, and perhaps beyond, the four-legged cast.
A fetching reminder to look for what brings us together. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9781662621062
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Astra Young Readers
Review Posted Online: July 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with...
Reynolds and Brown have crafted a Halloween tale that balances a really spooky premise with the hilarity that accompanies any mention of underwear.
Jasper Rabbit needs new underwear. Plain White satisfies him until he spies them: “Creepy underwear! So creepy! So comfy! They were glorious.” The underwear of his dreams is a pair of radioactive-green briefs with a Frankenstein face on the front, the green color standing out all the more due to Brown’s choice to do the entire book in grayscale save for the underwear’s glowing green…and glow they do, as Jasper soon discovers. Despite his “I’m a big rabbit” assertion, that glow creeps him out, so he stuffs them in the hamper and dons Plain White. In the morning, though, he’s wearing green! He goes to increasing lengths to get rid of the glowing menace, but they don’t stay gone. It’s only when Jasper finally admits to himself that maybe he’s not such a big rabbit after all that he thinks of a clever solution to his fear of the dark. Brown’s illustrations keep the backgrounds and details simple so readers focus on Jasper’s every emotion, writ large on his expressive face. And careful observers will note that the underwear’s expression also changes, adding a bit more creep to the tale.
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with Dr. Seuss’ tale of animate, empty pants. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0298-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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