Venice’s Grand Canal is a splendid stage for this smooth reptilian operator.
This sequel to Marcellino’s I, Crocodile (1999) follows the reptile as he emerges from hiding in the sewers of Paris to stow away on his former captor’s Venice-bound caravan.
The backstory—in which Napoleon snatched the crocodile out of Egypt—is summarized on the first page. While the emperor is busy looting Venetian palaces, the protagonist realizes: “This town was made for a crocodile!” Between the ease of travel through the canals and the scent of “ragù alla Bolognese,” he is enraptured. Following his nose, he encounters masked revelers who delight in the authenticity of his costume and invite him to lunch—and a ball. Suspense builds when the crocodile’s nemesis appears just as the hero is drawn into a “catchy mazurka” with “a rather forward young lady” (ultimately, the crocodile’s champion). Marcellino wrote the sparkling, witty, first-person narrative; created a dummy; and finished some watercolors before his untimely death in 2001. French illustrator Puybaret was recently invited to pick up the mantle. While each artist’s style is unique, their toylike figures and complex architectural settings are simpatico, allowing Puybaret to honor the original style while remaining true to his own. The result is a seamless story as hilarious and high spirited as the first. The subtle coloring is artful; the pacing—constructed with thought bubbles, insets, and dramatic double spreads—is perfect.
Venice’s Grand Canal is a splendid stage for this smooth reptilian operator. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-0401-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories.
Kids know vegetables can be scary, but rarely are edible roots out to get someone. In this whimsical mock-horror tale, carrots nearly frighten the whiskers off Jasper Rabbit, an interloper at Crackenhopper Field.
Jasper loves carrots, especially those “free for the taking.” He pulls some in the morning, yanks out a few in the afternoon, and comes again at night to rip out more. Reynolds builds delicious suspense with succinct language that allows understatements to be fully exploited in Brown’s hilarious illustrations. The cartoon pictures, executed in pencil and then digitally colored, are in various shades of gray and serve as a perfectly gloomy backdrop for the vegetables’ eerie orange on each page. “Jasper couldn’t get enough carrots … / … until they started following him.” The plot intensifies as Jasper not only begins to hear the veggies nearby, but also begins to see them everywhere. Initially, young readers will wonder if this is all a product of Jasper’s imagination. Was it a few snarling carrots or just some bathing items peeking out from behind the shower curtain? The ending truly satisfies both readers and the book’s characters alike. And a lesson on greed goes down like honey instead of a forkful of spinach.
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0297-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
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