The illustrations try to illuminate the story, but the substandard verse makes the lights go out on this effort.
Rhyming verse relates a sentimental tale about how everyone in a neighborhood learns to enjoy the quiet on a dark Christmas Eve after a power failure.
One neighborhood in Medford Town is known as Christmas Block because all the houses are completely covered in lights and Christmas decorations. But one Christmas, when the lights are switched on, a blackout begins on Christmas Block and then spreads around the world. A little girl from Christmas Block points out the newly bright stars, which are then appreciated by all. The people remember: “See, all it took on Christmas night / to guide three kings was one star’s light.” The following year the people on Christmas Block light only one candle as their sole decoration. The text is based on Paul’s song of the same name (available for download from the publisher’s website). While it may work with a guitar accompaniment on a stage, as a picture-book text, the rhyme is seriously flawed and not up to basic standards of poetry. The rhyme scheme changes midway through the story, many lines do not have consistent rhythm, and all too many terminal rhymes are either forced or not-quite-rhymes—or both. Illustrations in deep jewel tones with glowing Christmas lights use a double-page-spread format that gives Christmas Block a solid visual presence with the excitement of the holiday in the air, but they cannot compensate for the text’s inadequacies.
The illustrations try to illuminate the story, but the substandard verse makes the lights go out on this effort. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8075-4543-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2015
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
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
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