A silly, lighthearted tone distinguishes an otherwise nondescript book.
The Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, a witch, and a leprechaun help out when Santa comes down with a cold.
At a meeting of the Holiday Heroes, Santa tells the others that he won’t be able to deliver presents this year. They overcome their shock when he offers to train them at the North Pole. The adventure unfolds at breakneck speed as the heroes do their best to get to a “bazillion” houses by morning. Along the way they encounter problems trying to land the Super Sleighmobile 3000 and crashing into a Christmas tree as they come down a chimney. Santa keeps an eye on them by video and helps things along. When they’re spotted by a child, they use their unique superpowers to put things right with “sleeping fairy dust,” superstrength, superspeed, and magic. With its narrative boxes and speech bubbles, the bright illustrations are a cross between comic-book and TV-cartoon styles. Each hero is described on a separate page with a profile that includes their catchphrases, likes, and dislikes. Only Santa and the Tooth Fairy are introduced at the beginning of the book. The others, somewhat puzzlingly, are at the end. Santa and the leprechaun are depicted as white, the Tooth Fairy is black, and the witch, of course, is green.
A silly, lighthearted tone distinguishes an otherwise nondescript book. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6970-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
Not enough tricks to make this a treat.
Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.
Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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