THE SNOW BEAST

Name: THE SNOW BEAST
Author: Chris Judge
ISBN: 978-1-4677-9313-1

by Chris Judge ; illustrated by Chris Judge ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2015

The short and clever text and colorful images make this book a great read-aloud for wintertime story hours and cozy nights...

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A quirky and snowy tale of affable beasts and friendship in unexpected places.

Every winter, the Beast has helped the mountain villagers coordinate a festival in celebration of the first day of snow. This year, both Beast and villagers are surprised and dismayed to find out that all the tools they need for the festival preparations have been stolen. Amid the chaos, one villager concludes that the unrest “must be the work of the abominable Snow Beast.” Wanting to help the villagers, the Beast promises to find the “mysterious monster” and to bring back the tools so the festival can come off. He embarks on a walk in the snow to find the Snow Beast, little knowing that this “abominable” creature is set to bring joy to his life and his village. In this follow-up to The Lonely Beast (2011) and other titles featuring the inky, furred black biped with glowing yellow eyes, Judge gives readers a tale filled with wit and ending with a folky twist. The vibrant illustrations and comic-book–style layout and transitions bring movement, depth, and whimsy to the story.

The short and clever text and colorful images make this book a great read-aloud for wintertime story hours and cozy nights at home with the little ones. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-4677-9313-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Andersen Press USA

Review Posted Online: June 28, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S MYSTERY & THRILLER

- BOOK REVIEW
CLOUD BABIES
by Eoin Colfer ; illustrated by Chris Judge

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FIRST CHRISTMAS SWEATER (AND THE SHEEP WHO CHANGED EVERYTHING)
by Ryan Tubridy ; illustrated by Chris Judge

- BOOK REVIEW
AWESOME ACHIEVERS IN TECHNOLOGY
by Alan Katz ; illustrated by Chris Judge

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CHICKA CHICKA HO HO HO

From the Chicka Chicka Book series

by William Boniface ; illustrated by Julien Chung ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2024

A successful swap from coconut tree to Christmas tree.

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A Christmas edition of the beloved alphabet book.

The story starts off nearly identically to Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989), written by John Archambault and the late Bill Martin Jr, with the letters A, B, and C deciding to meet in the branches of a tree. This time, they’re attempting to scale a Christmas tree, not a coconut tree, and the letters are strung together like garland. A, B, and C are joined by the other letters, and of course they all “slip, slop, topple, plop!” right down the tree. At the bottom, they discover an assortment of gifts, all in a variety of shapes. As a team, the letters and presents organize themselves to get back up on the Christmas tree and get a star to the top. Holiday iterations of favorite tales often fall flat, but this take succeeds. The gifts are an easy way to reinforce another preschool concept—shapes—and the text uses just enough of the original to be familiar. The rhyming works, sticking to the cadence of the source material. The illustrations pay homage to the late Lois Ehlert’s, featuring the same bold block letters, though they lack some of the whimsy and personality of the original. Otherwise, everything is similarly brightly colored and simply drawn. Those familiar with the classic will be drawn to this one, but newcomers can enjoy it on its own.

A successful swap from coconut tree to Christmas tree. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024

ISBN: 9781665954761

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)