An adorable and informative introduction to a beloved Chinese holiday.
A family of rabbits celebrates the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Sisters Jade and Crystal spend the morning with Mom making mooncakes, which the family then brings to Grandma and Grandpa’s house. There, Jade and Crystal offer their grandparents tea, mooncakes, and fruit baskets, eat a big dinner of lotus root, chestnuts, and mushrooms, and enjoy the gardens and full moon—while eating their favorite mooncakes. Along the way, Shum smoothly incorporates information about this Chinese holiday. When Crystal asks what mooncakes are made from, Mom responds, “Lotus seed paste…with a yummy salted egg yolk in the center to represent the moon.” She explains that the Mid-Autumn Festival is a celebration of the harvest and that the moon that rises at this time represents family. Readers will learn about traditional activities and games, such as the Chinese yo-yo. As the day comes to an end, Jade gazes up at the night sky. Though Auntie and Uncle Liu weren’t able to fly in this year to celebrate, Jade is happy, “knowing her family far away is looking at the same moon.” Large, simple cartoon illustrations of rabbits (each of whom is a different color) and concise text (just a few sentences per page) make for a cozy introduction to the Mid-Autumn Festival. Shum gently conveys the warmth and joy of this celebration; he wraps up with a retelling of the legend of Change’e, the moon goddess.
An adorable and informative introduction to a beloved Chinese holiday. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: July 16, 2024
ISBN: 9780593658833
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground.
A little red sleigh has big Christmas dreams.
Although the detailed, full-color art doesn’t anthropomorphize the protagonist (which readers will likely identify as a sled and not a sleigh), a close third-person text affords the object thoughts and feelings while assigning feminine pronouns. “She longed to become Santa’s big red sleigh,” reads an early line establishing the sleigh’s motivation to leave her Christmas-shop home for the North Pole. Other toys discourage her, but she perseveres despite creeping self-doubt. A train and truck help the sleigh along, and when she wishes she were big, fast, and powerful like them, they offer encouragement and counsel patience. When a storm descends after the sleigh strikes out on her own, an unnamed girl playing in the snow brings her to a group of children who all take turns riding the sleigh down a hill. When the girl brings her home, the sleigh is crestfallen she didn’t reach the North Pole. A convoluted happily-ever-after ending shows a note from Santa that thanks the sleigh for giving children joy and invites her to the North Pole next year. “At last she understood what she was meant to do. She would build her life up spreading joy, one child at a time.” Will she leave the girl’s house to be gifted to other children? Will she stay and somehow also reach ever more children? Readers will be left wondering. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 31.8% of actual size.)
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-72822-355-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
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
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