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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s not whether you win or lose; it’s how many mediocre sequels you can squeeze out of Seussian property.
Since a reformed Grinch is hardly any fun, this follow-up Grinches him up once more.
Those seeking more of the same, prepare to receive precisely that. Christmas is coming (again!), and the Grinch can hardly wait. He’s been patient all year, and now he can finally show the Whos down in Who-ville how much he’s changed. When the Grinch learns of a tree-decorating contest, he figures that if he wins, it’ll prove he truly has the Christmas spirit. He throws himself into the task, but when it comes time to judge the trees, the Grinch is horrified to discover that he’s received only the second-place trophy. Can Cindy-Lou Who find the words to save the day? Replicating many of the original beats and wordplay of the original, this tale feels like less a sequel and more like a vaguely rewritten variation. Meanwhile, Ruiz’s art seeks to bridge the gap between the animated Chuck Jones version of the Grinch and the one depicted in the original book. This thankless task results in a strange uncanny valley between Seuss and Jones but does allow the artist a chance to colorize everything and lend some racial diversity to the Who population (Cindy-Lou is light-skinned). (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s not whether you win or lose; it’s how many mediocre sequels you can squeeze out of Seussian property. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780593563168
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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