243. Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Sleigh! Mo Willems. 2023. [September] 40 pages. [Source: Library]
First sentence: Ho. Ho. Whoa! Oh, Hello. Happy holidays! Season's greetings! Festive feathers and peaceful plumage! Jingle bells! Joy! And... Can I drive the sleigh!?!?
Premise/plot: Pigeon is back. This is his first holiday book, I believe. (Though I could be wrong). He wants to drive Santa's sleigh...or does he?????
My thoughts: I love Pigeon. I do. Perhaps not as much as Elephant and Piggie. But I love, love, love Mo Willems. And Pigeon is always a delight. I've never really been disappointed by any of his adventures. Is this one my new favorite? Probably not. Is it in my top five? Probably yes. Though I can't imagine many parents would be overjoyed if this one became again-again-again in the summer time.
244. Mel Fell. Corey R. Tabor. 2021. 40 pages. [Source: Library]
First sentence: One day, when Mama was away, Mel decided it was time to learn to fly. She had been in the nest long enough.
Premise/plot: Mel fell...but will Mel also fly? This one joins Mel in her journey down....and up. It is a coming of age story for young readers about the beginning initial steps of independence.
My thoughts: A fun flip of a book. It is not your traditional reading experience--physically. There's some twisting, turning, manipulating of the pages. But it works well. The format becomes part of the storytelling experience. I don't know that I loved it more than Tabor's Fox books. But I definitely enjoyed it.
245. Who's A Goose? Scott Stuart. 2021/2023. 32 pages. [Source: Library]
First sentence: One goose is goose. And two goose is geese! Bill, will you please keep quiet?! I'm trying to teach!
Premise/plot: A concept picture book about collective nouns.
My thoughts: I really enjoyed this one. I loved the narration. Bill and Bruce just made me smile! I learned a few new-to-me collective nouns as well. For example, I learned about a BAND of gorillas. I definitely recommend this one. The illustrations were perfectly perfect.
246. Pumpkin Day at the Zoo. Susan Meissner. Illustrated by Pablo Pino. 2023. [July] 32 pages. [Source: Library]
First sentence: Morning sun
shines down on the zoo, on giraffes
and camels and kangaroos.
All the animals in all their places,
leaning and looking with eager faces.
Premise/plot: Picture book written in verse. ALL the animals at the zoo enjoy eating pumpkins. That's it. The entire plot.
My thoughts: I didn't necessarily find the rhythm of the rhymes--the flow of the book--to be all that great. Not bad, of course. Certainly serviceable. I enjoyed the illustrations. The book itself is entertaining enough. Definitely worth checking out from the library in the fall. Definitely worth including in your line-up of zoo-themed or animal-themed picture books.
247. Cinderella and a Mouse Called Fred. Deborah Hopkinson. Illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky. 2023. [August] 48 pages. [Source: Library] [Picture Book] [LGBT+ retelling of Cinderella]
First sentence: Once upon a time, there was a small gray mouse who lived in a pumpkin patch. It was a quiet life--until the night a stranger appeared.
My thoughts, part one: I did not do my 'due diligence' with this one. The book I thought I was getting and actually wanted--a Cinderella retelling from the point of view of one of her mice. I was up for some novelty--the mouse's point of view. I guess I wasn't expecting every other single element to be changed up in this 'fractured' fairy tale. Some retellings remove the romance and make it pure silliness.
Premise/plot: Fred, the mouse, observes Cinderella's so-called magical night. It's nothing like the traditional tale (as you might imagine.) For one thing, Cinderella can't wait to get away from the whole affair. She did not have a magical evening with the Prince--far from it. She can't wait to go back home and get back to work. So the story does not end with a disappointed prince NOT finding Cinderella...it ends with the marriage of Cinderella and a female farmer--both love gardening and pumpkins.
My thoughts, part two: For better or worse, the book does not address her mistreatment by her stepmother or stepsisters. Not a word--that I could find. In this retelling is Cinderella not being forced into servitude? Is she not being bullied by her stepfamily? If she is being used 'as a servant,' or mistreated/bullied how is this resolved by the end? Why doesn't this come up? I mean Cinderella is usually all about escaping one's situation--miserable life--whether she escapes with or without the prince, she's usually depicted as having a bad home life since her dad died.
For better or worse, the book doesn't show Cinderella ever wanting to go to the ball in the first place. Are we to believe that the fairy godmother just showed up and forced Cinderella against her will to go? Maybe. Probably. If she doesn't want to go, is it because she's self-aware that she has no interest in the Prince OR any guy? But again, we're not told that she doesn't want to go. She doesn't seem cranky until after meeting the Prince and spending time with him. He seems infatuated with her, but it is not mutual.
Are we to assume that when she meets this lady farmer at the fair it is love at first sight? Probably. Apparently. I wasn't surprised that this classic fairy tale has to have a shift of some type--can't send the message that women need men to rescue them, or, that instant love exists. But apparently it's not bad to have insta love if it's same-sex? I don't know.
This lesbian retelling of Cinderella--we don't learn about Cinderella's romantic interest until the second to last page--wasn't my cup of tea personally. I just think there is not much characterization or depth.
© 2023 Becky Laney of Young Readers
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