The back of the book proclaims that what happens in this story is "[b]ecause miracles happen." Children may not be so sure....
Picture-book minimalism is taken to an almost unnatural extreme with this avant-garde presentation of a very familiar concept.
Against a pure-white background sits a single photographed image alongside large letters reading, "Oliver was an egg." Readers see him in his pre-hatched state from all sides, together with the text. Oliver remains an egg until the book opens to reveal a thick ribbon threaded between the pages. On the first of these spreads, the egg sits on the ribbon. Turn the page, and the ribbon pulls open to reveal a sweet yellow chick next to a simple legend: "everything changed." The book indulges in an urbane kind of humor, and there is admittedly something sublime in its matter-of-fact, “There was really nothing he could do about it,” when discussing Oliver’s situation. The photographs in this book are also so perfect in detail that it’s impossible not to want to feel the chick’s downy fluff. That said, it’s difficult to see what besides the novelty of the ribbon will appeal to children about this story. The presentation feels wholly adult, and children will find little here to recommend more than a single read.
The back of the book proclaims that what happens in this story is "[b]ecause miracles happen." Children may not be so sure. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-935954-01-9
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Lemniscaat USA
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
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
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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