Well-meant but heavy-handed.
A Pennsylvania Dutch folk tale about the origin of the robin’s red breast is woven into a story of a girl and her grandmother preparing for Easter together.
This interpretation offers new illustrations for a work that was originally published as The Story of the Easter Robin and illustrated by Anna Vojtech (2010). The cheery, new cover shows a little blonde white girl and her appealing dog gazing out a window at a robin’s nest with five eggs (though the text clearly specifies four eggs). Tressa and her grandmother watch as a pair of robins builds a nest right outside their window in the days before Easter. Tressa worries about the safety of the eggs, and her grandmother reassures her repeatedly that God will take care of the robins. They make bird decorations from dyed eggs, and Gran tells Tressa a legend about robins and why their breasts are red. At the crucifixion of Jesus, a robin pulled a thorn out of Jesus’ forehead, and a drop of blood stained the bird’s breast. The illustrations of the girl and the grandmother are cheerful and contemporary, but the depictions of the robin at the crucifixion shift to a dark sepia palette with frightening overtones. Jesus is shown carrying the cross, wearing the crown of thorns, and a menacing hand with a whip strikes out at both Jesus and the robin. (Birders will quibble that the robin depicted in the crucifixion story is American, a geographical impossibility.) The relatively lengthy text veers from chipper to lugubrious, with a preachy tone overall.
Well-meant but heavy-handed. (author’s note) (Religion/picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-310-74964-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
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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
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience.
The How to Catch A… crew try for Comet.
Having already failed to nab a Halloween witch, the Easter Bunny, a turkey, a leprechaun, the Tooth Fairy, and over a dozen other iconic trophies in previous episodes of this bestselling series, one would think the racially diverse gaggle of children in Elkerton’s moonlit, wintry scenes would be flagging…but no, here they lay out snares ranging from a loop of garland to an igloo baited with reindeer moss to an enticing candy cane maze, all in hopes of snagging one of Santa’s reindeer while he’s busy delivering presents. Infused with pop culture–based Christmas cheer (“Now I’ve already seen the shelf with the elf”), Comet prances past the traps until it’s time to gather up the kids, most of whom look terrified, for a group snapshot with the other reindeer and then climb back into harness: “This was a great stop but a few million to go / Christmas Eve must continue with style!” Though festive, the verse feels trite and unlikely to entice youngsters. A sprinkling of “True Facts About Reindeer” (“They live in the tundra, where they have friends like the arctic bunny”) wrap up this celebration of the predatory spirit. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 9781728276137
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2022
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