A much-needed exploration of the intersection of two significant Chinese and Jewish holidays.
A family observes two autumn holidays in this multicultural celebration.
Ruby’s family is preparing for the Mid-Autumn Festival and Sukkot. Ruby and Nainai go to the Chinese market to buy fresh fruit, flowers, lanterns, and mooncakes filled with lotus seed paste and sweet red bean. Then Ruby and Zayde go to the Jewish grocer for fruits mentioned in the Torah such as figs and dates, plus the four species used in a Sukkot ritual. The family builds a sukkah, a hut made of plywood and evergreen branches, and decorates it with lanterns, including one that represents the jade rabbit from the Mid-Autumn Festival legend. Next, Ruby comes up with a perfect plan to combine both holidays: whipping up mooncakes that incorporate the traditional flavors of Sukkot and are festooned with Stars of David. The recipe is included at the book’s conclusion. While the mooncakes bake, the family briefly shares the stories of both holidays, which often occur simultaneously due to the lunar calendar. The colorful digital illustrations include Chinese brushwork—a lovely touch. The authors and illustrator effectively convey the fundamentals of both holidays to newcomers while also providing readers of Chinese and Jewish descent with a wonderful mirror that reflects their experiences.
A much-needed exploration of the intersection of two significant Chinese and Jewish holidays. (authors’ and illustrator’s notes, information on the holidays) (Picture book. 4-10)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9780063254718
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers.
The bestselling series (How to Catch an Elf, 2016, etc.) about capturing mythical creatures continues with a story about various ways to catch the Easter Bunny as it makes its annual deliveries.
The bunny narrates its own story in rhyming text, beginning with an introduction at its office in a manufacturing facility that creates Easter eggs and candy. The rabbit then abruptly takes off on its delivery route with a tiny basket of eggs strapped to its back, immediately encountering a trap with carrots and a box propped up with a stick. The narrative focuses on how the Easter Bunny avoids increasingly complex traps set up to catch him with no explanation as to who has set the traps or why. These traps include an underground tunnel, a fluorescent dance floor with a hidden pit of carrots, a robot bunny, pirates on an island, and a cannon that shoots candy fish, as well as some sort of locked, hazardous site with radiation danger. Readers of previous books in the series will understand the premise, but others will be confused by the rabbit’s frenetic escapades. Cartoon-style illustrations have a 1960s vibe, with a slightly scary, bow-tied bunny with chartreuse eyes and a glowing palette of neon shades that shout for attention.
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-3817-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note.
Little Honey Bunny Funnybunny loves baseball almost as much as she loves her big brother P.J.—though it’s a close-run thing.
Readers familiar with the pranks P.J. plays on his younger sibling in older episodes of the series (most illustrated by Roger Bollen) will be amused—and perhaps a little confused—to see him in the role of perfect big brother after meeting his swaddled little sister for the first time in mama’s lap. But here, along with being a constant companion and “always happy to see her,” he cements his heroic status in her eyes by hitting a home run for his baseball team and then patiently teaching her how to play T-ball. After carefully coaching her and leading her through warm-up exercises, he even sits in the stands, loudly cheering her on as she scores the winning run in her own very first game. “‘You are the best brother a bunny could ever have!’” she burbles. This tale’s a tad blander compared with others centered on P.J. and his sister, but it’s undeniably cheery, with text well structured for burgeoning readers. The all-smiles animal cast in Bowers’ cartoon art features a large and diversely hued family of bunnies sporting immense floppy ears as well as a multispecies crowd of furry onlookers equally varied of color, with one spectator in a wheelchair.
A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note. (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9798217032464
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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