These porkers may be getting a little long in the snout.
Will the Big Bad Wolf ruin Christmas? Not if these three pigs have anything to say about it.
It’s Christmastime in Fairyland. Everyone is enjoying the Winter Wonderland Festival, and the three little SUPERPIGS (referred to in all-caps) are taking part in the talent show. The grand prize? A visit with Santa. One pig is a skillful ice skater. Another is an amazingly accurate snowball thrower, and the third builds the largest snowman ever seen. Despite their best efforts, they can’t beat Little Red Riding Hood’s Christmas tree sculpture. She shares her prize with them, but when they get to Santa’s house, the jolly old elf is missing. The pigs follow Santa’s sleigh tracks, only to find the Big Bad Wolf is the culprit. Using their talent show skills, the trio must catch the wolf, free Santa, and save Christmas. Nursery rhyme details are again present in Evans’ fourth installment in the series. Wintry but colorful illustrations are filled with actions. This one isn’t anything special as holiday tales go, and though the ultimate message—that “Christmas is a time for giving, not just receiving”—is laudable, it feels a bit forced. The pigs’ shtick is wearing a tad thin, but fans may enjoy the addition of Christmas tropes to the SUPERPIG formula. Santa and Little Red Riding Hood are light-skinned; other human characters are diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally).
These porkers may be getting a little long in the snout. (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781338875836
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 23, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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