Sure to dazzle children, who will appreciate that a relatively small deed can lead to such magical results.
What happens when a kiss is planted? Readers will be captivated as a young girl’s seemingly silly act literally blossoms into a generous reward.
Rosenthal (This Plus That, illustrated by Jen Corace, 2011) strips away all but the most essential words to share her story. Spare short phrases and one-word descriptors propel the action while leaving plenty of room for Reynolds, illustrating in a similar style found in The Dot (2003), to work his visual magic in a pale palette of mostly yellow, pink and gray. After providing sun, water and attention, the spunky heroine has moments of doubt. Her patience pays off when a sparkly object emerges from the soil. “Sprout! / SHOUT! SHOUT! // Gather about. // Wow! How? What now? / Stare and stare. // ‘I’ll share!’ she declared.” The other children who come by strongly disagree: “Don’t you dare! It’s far too rare! It’ll go bare!” But “(She didn’t care.)” She collects a large amount of the sparkly stuff in her big red bowl and distributes it far and wide. When it is all gone, “she returned. There she learned…from one little kiss… // endless bliss!” Here Reynolds uses a golden wash with pink and iridescent dots to paint a most vigorous blooming swirly plant that spans the entirety of the final double-page spread.
Sure to dazzle children, who will appreciate that a relatively small deed can lead to such magical results. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-198675-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2011
Cookie-cutter predictability.
After all the daring escapes in the How To Catch… series, will the kids be able to catch Santa?
Oddly, previous installments saw the children trying (and failing) to catch an elf and a reindeer, but both are easily captured in this story. Santa, however, is slippery. Tempted but not fooled by poinsettias, a good book (attached to a slingshot armed with a teddy bear projectile), and, of course, milk and cookies, Santa foils every plan. The hero in a red suit has a job to do. Presents must be placed, and lists must be checked. He has no time for traps and foolery (except if you’re the elf, who falls for every one of them). Luckily, Santa helps the little rascal escape each time. Little is new here—the kids resort to similar snares found in previous works: netting, lures, and technological wonders such as the Santa Catcher 5000. Although the rhythm falters quite a bit (“How did we get out you ask? / It looked like we were done for. / Santa’s magic is very real, / and I cannot reveal more”), fans of the series may not mind. Santa and Christmas just might be enough to overcome the flaws. Santa and the elf are light-skinned, one of the children is brown-skinned, and the other presents as Asian. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Cookie-cutter predictability. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781728274270
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2023
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
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