Pearl and Squirrel Give Thanks

August 1, 2020
When Pearl the pup and friend Squirrel learn about Thanksgiving, they find out just how much they have to appreciate. Unlikely friends and cardboard-box roommates Pearl and Squirrel are opposites in many ways: Squirrel prefers the finer things in life, and Pearl is a little less fussy. After Stan the food cart man explains Thanksgiving as "when you share what you're thankful for with family and friends," they decide to count up everything they are thankful for. A sudden rainstorm makes them less than thankful, though. After Stan (who has brown skin and curly dark hair) comes to the rescue with an abrupt adoption, they realize they're most grateful for their "new family and their own place to belong." Ryan Ehrenberg's cartoon illustrations--the real heart of the book--envelop readers in a sense of season and place. There are lovely scenes of city skylines and bridges, and the feeling of fall is tucked away on nearly every page in piles of leaves at the park and vibrant orange trees and bushes. Darling touches like a string of soda can tabs that decorate Pearl and Squirrel's cardboard-box home give the book a nice richness. The story is sweet and insubstantial, a fairly conventional approach to presenting the concept of Thanksgiving to very young readers, emphasizing practicing gratitude while entirely avoiding the holiday's complicated origins. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 89.2% of actual size.) The immersive illustrations and cute critters make up for the pat lesson on giving thanks. (Picture book. 4-6)

COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.