A creative Christmas caper.
Five beloved Christmas ornaments attempt a daring escape.
Every year a family (referred to as “the humans”) decorate their tree with a macaroni angel, a star, a brown-skinned ice skater, a snowman, and a tan-skinned gnomelike creature. The ornaments love the festivities but are sad that they spend most of their time in a storage box. Christmas is so exciting that they want it to last all year long. But the North Pole is the only place where that can happen. So the ornaments hatch a plan to sneak into Santa’s sleigh when he visits and finally fulfill their dreams of an endless Christmas. Tiptoeing across garlands and sliding down candy canes, they descend the tree. But they have a nemesis to foil—the cat. Unfortunately, one ornament is left behind. Do the others go on or turn back and give up a life of Christmas cookies, hot tubs filled with hot cocoa, and presents galore? Animated vignettes showcase each step of the intrepid journey. Telling the story from the ornaments’ perspective offers an intriguing twist. Young readers may unpack their favorite decorations and view them in a whole new light this year. The human characters—who sleep through everything—are depicted with varying shades of brown skin.
A creative Christmas caper. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9780593430989
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
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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