Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
It's a sad time for Old Man Fookwire: his beloved birds are flying south for winter. And this year, the pesky squirrels that he loves to hate have decided to follow them, using flying machines that might have been designed by da Vinci (if he'd had access to soda bottles and baseball caps). Fookwire loads up his vintage convertible and joins the birds and squirrels in the tropical village of "Santa Vaca," where even he manages to crack a smile. In the squirrels' third outing, Rubin conveys the complexities of a testy relationship with flair, while Salmieri captures Fookwire's grumpiness and the vacant expressions of the squirrels as they dance on the beach and prepare mangoes with salt and lime. Ages 4-8. Illustrator's agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-Great googley-moogley! Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri's quirky and funny picture book trilogy (Clarion) about Old Man Fookwire and his rodent archenemies appears in three iconographically animated shorts. Fookwire is a grumpy guy whose only joy is watching and painting the colorful birds that visit the feeders in his yard. To his consternation, his yard is also populated by "fuzzy little geniuses." In each story, the squirrels use their wiles to make mischief, solve problems, and break through the iron fence around Old Man Fookwire's heart. Seasoned audio performer Kirby Heyborne narrates, unabashedly growling Fookwire's dialogue and reading the exposition with amusement. Playful music is lightly heard behind Heyborne's narration, alternating with basic sound effects, such as birds tweeting, cats yowling, horns honking, and ocean waves crashing. Viewers have the option to watch with or without captions. These humorous stories could have benefited from actual animation to bring more vibrancy to their whimsy, but they are good fun nevertheless.-Jennifer Verbrugge, Dakota County Library, MN (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Birds of a feather (along with a cantankerous gentleman and his pesky squirrels) flock together at this tropical destination. Old Man Fookwire dips into a depression when his beloved feathered companions fly south. His impish squirrels take to the sky in makeshift machines (utilizing, in part, a pine cone and soda bottle) and follow the birds. After the squirrels call collect, Fookwire putters down the highway (at 12 mph) to join the birds and the pests. Once in Santa Vaca, he discovers the fiery coco, kiki and caramba birds and starts to paint them. Forgetting sunscreen and forgoing water, Mr. Fookwire turns tomato-red and suffers from heatstroke. The squirrels perform triage, fanning him with palm branches and dumping fluids into his parched mouth, before piling him into his sports car and driving him back north at record speeds. Fookwire's "Thooooooose daaaaaaarn squirrrrrels!" says it all about their love-hate relationship. Visual slapstick and a deadpan text combine with trademark Fookwire expressions ("great googly-moogly!") to make this third Darn Squirrels outing a winner. Watercolor, gouache and colored-pencil spreads pepper the beach with individual grains of sand. The birds' flamboyance (one a bird-sized replica of the ornery old man) is the perfect complement to the sweltering heat. Hysterical--again. (Picture book. 5-9)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
