Hoppy Christmas to all (and a Merry Easter, too).
A clash between Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny resolves itself in merry collaboration.
The title should be switched: It’s the Easter Bunny who plots to take down Santa Claus after feeling bitter about all of the help and thanks St. Nick receives year after year. As the text explains, the Bunny has no elf helpers and follows an exhausting three-step process to make chocolate eggs “before delivering them all by himself. (Which explains why you often find Easter eggs scattered all over your yard).” Then, in stark contrast to Santa, who receives goodies from children around the globe, including carrots for his reindeer, the Easter Bunny gets no thanks. “I LIKE CARROTS. IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR A CARROT?” he exclaims in an angry speech bubble. Grinch-like, he decides to sabotage Christmas by filling the elves’ toy-making machines with chocolate: “THOSE POOR SWEET CHILDREN! WHATEVER WILL THEY DO WHEN THEIR TOYS MELT? Wooo Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha.” Alas, the plan backfires. Children are delighted by their chocolate toys. “I CAN PLAY AND EAT CHOCOLATE AT THE SAME TIME!” says one child who holds a chocolate airplane. Bereft, the Easter Bunny decides to leave for good, but Santa stops him and offers a jolly partnership, complete with elf helpers—and carrots! Blunt’s scratchy cartoons go big on the Bunny’s maniacal grins.
Hoppy Christmas to all (and a Merry Easter, too). (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-9164-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Quirky, familiar fun for series devotees.
After Duncan finds his crayons gone—yet again—letters arrive, detailing their adventures in friendship.
Eleven crayons send missives from their chosen spots throughout Duncan’s home (and one from his classroom). Red enjoys the thrill of extinguishing “pretend fires” with Duncan’s toy firetruck. White, so often dismissed as invisible, finds a new calling subbing in for the missing queen on the black-and-white chessboard. “Now everyone ALWAYS SEES ME!…(Well, half the time!)” Pink’s living the dream as a pastry chef helming the Breezy Bake Oven, “baking everything from little cupcakes…to…OTHER little cupcakes!” Teal, who’s hitched a ride to school in Duncan’s backpack, meets the crayons in the boy’s desk and writes, “Guess what? I HAVE A TWIN! How come you never told me?” Duncan wants to see his crayons and “meet their new friends.” A culminating dinner party assembles the crayons and their many guests: a table tennis ball, dog biscuits, a well-loved teddy bear, and more. The premise—personified crayons, away and back again—is well-trammeled territory by now, after over a dozen books and spinoffs, and Jeffers once more delivers his signature cartooning and hand-lettering. Though the pages lack the laugh-out-loud sight gags and side-splittingly funny asides of previous outings, readers—especially fans of the crayons’ previous outings—will enjoy checking in on their pals.
Quirky, familiar fun for series devotees. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 9780593622360
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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