Appealing characters and lively storytelling suggest a welcome series in the making.
In this debut illustrated chapter book, Dad works a little too hard on the outdoor Christmas lights.
The holidays are coming, and Papa Grod is determined that his family’s Christmas light display will be the best ever. He especially wants to impress Mama Grod, who was unhappy that last year’s lights looked “ ‘scruffy’ and ‘hodge-podgey’ and ‘tacky.’ ” (Papa didn’t get around to taking those lights down until July, and the summer heat certainly didn’t help their condition.) After special trips to stores in town to find light hangers and the blue and violet bulbs that Mama prefers, Papa can’t wait to decorate the roof. And, after all his work, he isn’t going to worry that he may have missed something when he tries to fix a hitch in the installation process. But what Papa has overlooked soon becomes clear when it begins to rain. (And maybe Papa won’t mention the Christmas lights in his holiday letter after all.) In this children’s book, Gord Yakimow deftly combines a story of relatable family life with humor and a fantasy twist. In the colorful, detailed illustrations conceptualized by John Yakimow, the author’s son, and engagingly rendered by Schultz, the Grods are like all the inhabitants in the Valley of the EverGreens. They are tubby, gray, bulbous-nosed, big-eyed folk of indeterminate origin. Papa is endearingly well intentioned, and the love the family members feel for one another—even when Mama and the Grod children (Sister, Gordie, and Tommie) view the Christmas décor with varying degrees of enthusiasm—warms the narrative. A hint that more books featuring the Grods may be forthcoming can be found in the author’s mention of their past adventures in the “Far-off Territory of the North,” where they lived in a “lovely log cabin beside a beautiful clear lake.” The work ends with a sample Scottish-themed menu from the restaurant where the family had a celebratory meal before Papa’s efforts proved unfortunate, complete with a quote by Robert Burns that’s cleverly apt: “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley.”
Appealing characters and lively storytelling suggest a welcome series in the making.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-03-911009-0
Page Count: 44
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: April 28, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Little Blue Truck keeps on truckin’—but not without some backfires.
Little Blue Truck feels, well, blue when he delivers valentine after valentine but receives nary a one.
His bed overflowing with cards, Blue sets out to deliver a yellow card with purple polka dots and a shiny purple heart to Hen, one with a shiny fuchsia heart to Pig, a big, shiny, red heart-shaped card to Horse, and so on. With each delivery there is an exchange of Beeps from Blue and the appropriate animal sounds from his friends, Blue’s Beeps always set in blue and the animal’s vocalization in a color that matches the card it receives. But as Blue heads home, his deliveries complete, his headlight eyes are sad and his front bumper droops ever so slightly. Blue is therefore surprised (but readers may not be) when he pulls into his garage to be greeted by all his friends with a shiny blue valentine just for him. In this, Blue’s seventh outing, it’s not just the sturdy protagonist that seems to be wilting. Schertle’s verse, usually reliable, stumbles more than once; stanzas such as “But Valentine’s Day / didn’t seem much fun / when he didn’t get cards / from anyone” will cause hitches during read-alouds. The illustrations, done by Joseph in the style of original series collaborator Jill McElmurry, are pleasant enough, but his compositions often feel stiff and forced.
Little Blue Truck keeps on truckin’—but not without some backfires. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-358-27244-1
Page Count: 20
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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