A quiet, satisfying story about a charming pair of friends celebrating their affectionate bond.
The stars of a popular early-reader series move on to the picture-book world in this gentle story about finding a Christmas tree.
The two friends explore the wintry countryside together, focusing on trees and meeting noisy birds. Cork the muskrat is the thinker of the two, with “a head full of thoughts.” He offers logical explanations and leadership. Fuzz the possum seems “to have a head full of air,” asking hilarious questions, playing loudly, and generally acting as comic relief. Cork wants to find a good tree to sit under for a spell of thinking to try to figure out why this day is a special one, while Fuzz wants to sing his newly invented holiday song: "Merry, merry, holly, holly, ho-ho-ho!" As darkness falls, the pair find a jingle bell and a snowy evergreen decked with bright lights. They have time to think together about their special friendship before hanging the bell on the tree and singing their merry little tune together. The plot is minimal, and the repetitions of the made-up song are a little tedious, but Fuzz and Cork are both endearing fellows. McCue’s finely detailed watercolor-and-ink illustrations capture the personalities of the two animals as well as the magical atmosphere of the final snowy scene with the glowing Christmas tree.
A quiet, satisfying story about a charming pair of friends celebrating their affectionate bond. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-451-47501-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A successful swap from coconut tree to Christmas tree.
A Christmas edition of the beloved alphabet book.
The story starts off nearly identically to Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989), written by John Archambault and the late Bill Martin Jr, with the letters A, B, and C deciding to meet in the branches of a tree. This time, they’re attempting to scale a Christmas tree, not a coconut tree, and the letters are strung together like garland. A, B, and C are joined by the other letters, and of course they all “slip, slop, topple, plop!” right down the tree. At the bottom, they discover an assortment of gifts, all in a variety of shapes. As a team, the letters and presents organize themselves to get back up on the Christmas tree and get a star to the top. Holiday iterations of favorite tales often fall flat, but this take succeeds. The gifts are an easy way to reinforce another preschool concept—shapes—and the text uses just enough of the original to be familiar. The rhyming works, sticking to the cadence of the source material. The illustrations pay homage to the late Lois Ehlert’s, featuring the same bold block letters, though they lack some of the whimsy and personality of the original. Otherwise, everything is similarly brightly colored and simply drawn. Those familiar with the classic will be drawn to this one, but newcomers can enjoy it on its own.
A successful swap from coconut tree to Christmas tree. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781665954761
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
A funny tale about stress and an ever upping ante, with a comforting end.
Something is preventing Owl from falling asleep.
Owl leans back against his white pillow and headboard. “Squeek!” says something underneath the bed. Owl’s never heard that sound before, so he fastens his pink bathrobe and answers the front door. Nobody. It must be the wind; back to bed. Bidding himself goodnight, he climbs into bed—and hears the noise again. Time after time, he pops out of bed seeking the squeaker. Is it in the cupboard? He empties the shelves. Under the floor? He pulls up his floorboards. As Owl’s actions ratchet up—he destroys the roof and smashes the walls, all in search of the squeak—so does his anxiety. Not until he hunkers down in bed under the night sky (his bed is now outdoors, because the house’s roof and walls are gone), frantically clutching his pillow, does he see what readers have seen all along: a small, gray mouse. In simple illustrations with black outlines, textured coloring, and foreshortened perspective, Pizzoli plays mischievously with mouse placement. Sometimes the mouse is behind Owl or just out of his sightline; other times, the mouse is on a solid, orange-colored page across the spread from Owl, which removes him from Owl’s scene in a rather postmodern manner. Is the mouse toying with Owl? Who knows?
A funny tale about stress and an ever upping ante, with a comforting end. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4847-1275-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
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