As a digital subscriber, you’ll receive unlimited access to Horn Book web exclusives and extensive archives, as well as access to our highly searchable Guide/Reviews Database.
To access other site content, visit The Horn Book homepage.
To continue you need an active subscription to hbook.com.
Subscribe now to gain immediate access to everything hbook.com has to offer, as well as our highly searchable Guide/Reviews Database, which contains tens of thousands of short, critical reviews of books published in the United States for young people.
Thank you for registering. To have the latest stories delivered to your inbox, select as many free newsletters as you like below.
No thanks. Return to article
(3)
K-3
Illustrated by
Richard Watson.
"It was a dreamy, sunbeamy day in Cupcake Wood." So begins this gentle, gutsy parody of twee children's books about frolicsome woodland animals. Here, owl Scowl is so grouchy that he says "Get lost!" when someone gives him something, which ultimately leads him to experience an unfamiliar emotion: empathy. Watson subtly mocks animal cute-ification without insulting fans of the genre.