As picturesque, nostalgic, and quaint as the happiest of holiday memories.
In this visual interpretation of a classic holiday song as sung by Peggy Lee, Hopgood strings together a beautiful, wintry chain of family pleasures.
Pure joy greets readers right from the start: the first double-page spread opens on a lovely snowy landscape with a fox, some deer, and a sleigh as musical notes accompany that familiar opening line, “Sleigh bells ring, are you listening?” Readers then meet a family of five with dark hair, rosy cheeks, and peach-colored skin. The loose narrative centers on this merry band as they frolic in the woods. Classic images of a winter paradise soon follow: building a snowman, watching snow fall, sledding down a hill, snuggling up near a fire, and much more. (The line “We’ll frolic and play the Eskimo way,” which seems to describe a snowball fight, will give some readers pause.) Hopgood’s crayon-and-pastel illustrations capture the sheer wonder of winter. Dark and soft blues dominate, serving as complementary backdrops for each spark of red, burst of orange, and smear of green. One particular double-page spread showing the family in front of a white tree with notes hung on its branches just gushes with wholesomeness. Better yet, each turn of the page matches each turn of the lyric impeccably. Both text and pictures cohere into utter cheerfulness, sure to get anybody singing along.
As picturesque, nostalgic, and quaint as the happiest of holiday memories. (lyrics, author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62779-304-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: June 27, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers.
The bestselling series (How to Catch an Elf, 2016, etc.) about capturing mythical creatures continues with a story about various ways to catch the Easter Bunny as it makes its annual deliveries.
The bunny narrates its own story in rhyming text, beginning with an introduction at its office in a manufacturing facility that creates Easter eggs and candy. The rabbit then abruptly takes off on its delivery route with a tiny basket of eggs strapped to its back, immediately encountering a trap with carrots and a box propped up with a stick. The narrative focuses on how the Easter Bunny avoids increasingly complex traps set up to catch him with no explanation as to who has set the traps or why. These traps include an underground tunnel, a fluorescent dance floor with a hidden pit of carrots, a robot bunny, pirates on an island, and a cannon that shoots candy fish, as well as some sort of locked, hazardous site with radiation danger. Readers of previous books in the series will understand the premise, but others will be confused by the rabbit’s frenetic escapades. Cartoon-style illustrations have a 1960s vibe, with a slightly scary, bow-tied bunny with chartreuse eyes and a glowing palette of neon shades that shout for attention.
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-3817-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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