A joyful romp from beginning to end.
A rhyming undersea celebration.
Murray and Flowers stay true to the formula of Unicorn Day (2019), though this time it’s a group of mermaids who are getting together for a can’t-miss shindig. In honor of Mermaid Day, a tan-skinned mer-queen is hosting “a great big bash!” After the preparations are complete, the guests—mer-friends and marine animals alike—swim inside the mer-queen’s castle for a day of fun. The mer-queen invites the partygoers to try on the jewelry from her treasure chest. Then it’s time to make music, dance with dolphins, ride seahorses, and play a game involving tossing rings onto the narwhals’ horns. A fabulous full spread is dedicated to the arrival of an intruding shark, but Murray subverts expectations by revealing that this fearsome-looking underwater predator just wants to join the jamboree. Anyone seeking a more subdued story should look elsewhere—the scenes are unapologetically busy in color, layout, and word choice. The mer-queen’s lavish castle looks like a layered cake festooned with decorations, while the treasure chest bursts with bling. This book delivers on its promise of a fun-filled day—mermaid fans will turn the pages again and again. The mer-friends are diverse in skin tone. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A joyful romp from beginning to end. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 4, 2023
ISBN: 9781728271323
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
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
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
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