by Graeme Base ; illustrated by Graeme Base ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 16, 2014
These pages beckon readers to return again and again to pore over the details.
Four boastful Asian animals learn a lesson in humility.
Cambodia’s Angkor Wat was once known as the “City of Temples.” Gibbon, Tiger, Water Buffalo and Gecko laze near a temple ruin together. Each posits that he would be a superior king; this speculation turns into a challenge and, ultimately, a race to the top of their mountain. Tiger gets off to a quick start, neatly avoiding a menacing snake but ignoring a beautiful crane with a broken wing. Not far behind, Gibbon also encounters the snake, now tangled in branches, and helps to free him. When Gibbon tires, he hitches a ride on a slow-moving pangolin. When Water Buffalo comes upon the snake, he’s filled with fear and decides to take the long way up, around the big swamp. Gecko has no trouble zigzagging past the serpent. When the four animals reach the top, they’re surprised to find Elephant waiting for them. He recounts the exploits of each; none has the qualities that make a king, he says, citing their actions during the race. The quartet leaves together, pondering all that Elephant has said. This simple morality tale is lifted to loveliness by Base’s gorgeous digital illustrations, majestic and richly colored, filled with characteristic detail and intricately bordered.
These pages beckon readers to return again and again to pore over the details. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4197-1354-5
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
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by Mo Willems ; illustrated by Mo Willems ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 5, 2023
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
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New York Times Bestseller
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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by James Dean ; illustrated by James Dean ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 18, 2018
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
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