Monday, March 11, 2024

36. Why Do Elephants Have Big Ears?


Why Do Elephants Have Big Ears? Questions -- And Surprising Answers -- About Animals. Steve Jenkins and Robin Page. 2023. [November] 40 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Why do camels have a hump? 

Premise/plot: This is a nonfiction picture book. The title may include the word 'elephant' but the book covers a wide assortment of animals. Some questions and answers are on a single page. Other questions and answers are a two-page spread. 

Questions include,
Why do spotted skunks do handstands?
Why do wombats have cube-shaped poop?
Why are naked mole rats naked?

There are SO MANY questions and answers. This one is full of I-didn't-know-that-facts.

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this one. I found some questions super-fascinating. I think this is the kind of book that might prove engaging and appealing to young readers. It is not a book that you have to read cover to cover. It can be a book that you flip through casually. The end material does include [even] more facts about the animals.

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers

35. Hot Cat, Cool Cat


Hot Cat, Cool Cat. Laura Manaresi. Illustrated by Roberta Angaramo. 2023. [November] 32 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Kit and Kip are friends. But....Kip likes to run. Kit likes to sit. Kip likes cake. Kit likes fish. Kip likes to hug. Hugs scare Kit. Kip likes mice. Kit likes horses.

Premise/plot: Kit and Kip are friends with a lot of differences. This book celebrates their friendship. It is a LEVEL G reader. 

My thoughts: I definitely liked this one. Is it the absolutely most amazing picture book starring cats? Probably not. Is it quite good for a leveled [beginner/early] reader? Yes. It does have a plot. It doesn't jump into the plot, perhaps. But it does have quite an adventure...eventually. 

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers

34. Buffalo Fluffalo


Buffalo Fluffalo. Bess Kalb. Illustrated by Erub Kraan. 2024. 40 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: There once was a Buffalo Fluffalo...a snuffalo, scruffalo, surly old buffalo, who was ever so snarly and gnarly and tuffalo. I'm the Buffalo Fluffalo--I heave and I huffalo. Leave me alone because I've had enuffalo!

Premise/plot: Is Buffalo Fluffalo as tough as he wants you to believe? Maybe. Maybe not. Probably not. Is he adorable? Always and forever.

My thoughts: This picture book is written in rhyme. It is absolutely adorable in the most precious of ways. It is probably more for younger readers than older ones. (It may be "too cute" for some.) I liked this one. I did. I didn't love the text in a love, love, love way. But I did think the illustrations were so incredibly adorable and cute and precious. So I definitely liked it and am happy to recommend it.

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

31-33. Service Pups in Training, 3 Books


31. Tucker's Nose Knows: An Allergen Detection Dog Graphic Novel. Mari Bolte. Illustrated by Diego Vaisberg. 2023. 29 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Tucker is a poodle training to become an allergen detection dog. Poodles are considered to be hypoallergenic. That means they are less likely to cause allergic reactions.

Premise/plot: What you see is what you get. A puppy is in training to be a service dog. In this instance, it is Tucker who is the star. Tucker is learning to isolate out specific scents and give alerts when the allergen is detected. Apparently, Tucker learns different scents on different days of his training. This specific day he is on the scent for gluten. The story is told in comic book form. There are speech bubbles for dialogue.

My thoughts: I hope training is taken more seriously in real life. Each book focuses on puppies in training--but they are all classmates and friends. The training aspects seem a little unrealistic, not that there aren't dogs trained for allergen detection, just the method and process seems a little sketchy. 

The book is a meh for me. I didn't hate it. I didn't love it. The artwork wasn't super amazing quality. 



32. Daphne Shows Support: An Emotional Support Dog Graphic Novel. Mari Bolte. Illustrated by Alan Brown. 2023. 32 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Daphne is a shih tzu puppy. She may be small, but she has a huge heart! She wants to help everyone, and the best way to do that is as an emotional support dog.

Premise/plot: What you see is what you get. A puppy is in training to be a service dog. In this instance, Daphne is the star. Daphne is learning to be an emotional support dog. 

My thoughts: Will readers learn about how emotional support dogs are really trained? I doubt it. I am so skeptical of the methods and processes being depicted. Again just personal opinion. The message of this one is that you have to take care of your own needs first. That is, the dog, Daphne, must take care of her own emotional needs first before she can be good at her own job in helping others. Most of the book just has ALL the puppies (each being trained in their own specialty apparently) doing an agility course and there is a "celebrity" dog. The plot of this one is just weird.


33. Rossi Guides the Way: A Guide Dog Graphic Novel. Mari Bolte. Illustrated by Alan Brown. 2023. 32 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Rossi is a yellow lab puppy. He's training to be a service dog like his great-grandma, Roselle. She's his hero.

Premise/plot: What you see is what you get. A puppy is in training to be a service dog. In this instance, Rossi is learning to be a guide dog. Rossi doesn't have a great training day and gives up--or wants to give up. Will Rossi be encouraged by Daphne to keep trying?

My thoughts: Readers may be more familiar with the concept of guide dogs. This one does focus more on teaching lessons to humans on how to human than it does provide information on how dogs are trained to be service dogs. The series [all three books] seem to have this didactic nature to them. This one is about how everyone makes mistakes and that's okay.


© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers

30. You Make Me Sneeze!


You Make Me Sneeze! Sharon G. Flake. Illustrated by Anna Raff. 2024. 48 pages. [Source: Library]

Normally I do like to include a first sentence, but sometimes Amazon samples are absolutely unhelpful. If you can't preview the first page of a picture book, then why bother.

Premise/plot:  Cat and Duck are back. These two "friends" are back for another adventure. Duck is convinced that he is allergic to Cat. But instead of creating distance and space between the two, Duck is more stuck on Cat than ever. Cat hopes, perhaps, that Duck will go away. Alas, Cat is not the source of Duck's sneezing.

My thoughts: These two are very silly. Are they as delightful as Elephant and Piggie? No. Not really. The book descriptions sure do like comparing these two to Elephant and Piggie. They do have some surface level similarities. Two friends banter back and forth in speech bubbles. 

I liked this one okay.

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers