Of potential use in settings that have other resources on or background knowledge of Passover.
Noa shares her Passover matzah.
Everyone usually shares at school lunch, but one day, the redheaded White girl insists on eating her own lunch. In very simple rhyming couplets, Noa quickly tells her tablemates the reason for eating matzah during Passover. During the Jews’ escape from Egypt, Noa, says, matzah was first created, because “with no time for bread to rise, / it came out flat, about this size.” (The size of the Israelites’ unleavened flatbread is not mentioned in Exodus, a misleading detail evidently added for the sake of the rhyme.) The illustration style sets these pages aside from the modern-day story and renders the Jews and Pharaoh with the same brown skin. Noa brings extra matzah for the rest of the weeklong holiday so that her friends can taste it in different ways: “chocolate matzah, matzah brei… / then a matzah pizza pie!” The book assumes the audience’s familiarity with Passover if not Noa’s racially and ethnically diverse classmates’; there is no glossary and only a limited holiday endnote. At the end, “Noa says, ‘Now you can see / what my matzah means to me. / Sharing it with you this way / makes it a perfect holiday.’ ” This sentiment is, sadly, undercut by Noa’s omission of the traditional welcoming of the Prophet Elijah to the seder. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9.8-by-19.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 27.1% of actual size.)
Of potential use in settings that have other resources on or background knowledge of Passover. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5415-8668-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
A holiday outing that doesn’t quite satisfy.
In this follow-up to singer Parton and co-author Perl’s Billy the Kid Makes It Big (2023), literal and figurative bumps in the road imperil the touring canine country star’s promise to be home for Christmas.
Inspired by one of Parton’s holiday songs, the tale sees Billy, a small brown French bulldog, and bandmates Bo, Buster, and Binky boarding a tour bus for “pawsome” glimpses of natural wonders along with meetings with fans and “puparazzi.” Then, although Billy has sent many letters home promising to be there for the holiday, an invitation to play Barkafeller Center on Christmas Day instantly changes his tune. “Billy was happy. Though he still felt a little…he wasn’t sure what.” Readers may be excused for having mixed feelings about his mixed feelings, not to mention his tersely unapologetic note to the folks. But when, thanks to a bus-busting rock in the road on Christmas Eve, it looks like the band will have to contrive their own celebration (“Silent night, howly night”), Billy remembers that he started making music in the first place for his loved ones. He has no problem bagging the big concert (Fans? What fans? Contract? What contract?) when Dolly herself rolls up in her own bus to offer a ride back to his “Tennessee mountain home” in time for a small show for “the most important audience in the world.” While Billy cuts an endearing figure in Haley’s cartoonish illustrations, his willingness to disappoint first family, then fans may have readers feeling less than cheery.
A holiday outing that doesn’t quite satisfy. (lyrics to Parton’s “Comin’ Home for Christmas”) (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9780593755006
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sugary uplift, shrink-wrapped for the masses.
An elusive new quarry leads the How To Catch… kids on a merry chase through a natural history museum.
Taking at least a step away from the “hunters versus prey” vibe of previous entries in the popular series, the racially diverse group of young visitors dashes through various museum halls in pursuit of the eponymous dino—whose quest to “spread kindness and joy ’round the world” takes the form of a mildly tumultuous museum tour. In most of Elkerton’s overly sweet, color-saturated scenes, only portions of the Loveosaurus, who is purple and covered with pink hearts, are visible behind exhibits or lumbering off the page. But the children find small enticements left behind, from craft supplies to make cards for endangered species to pictures of smiley faces, candy heart–style personal notes (“You Rock!” “Give Hugs”), and, in the hall of medieval arms and armor, a sign urging them to “Be Honest Be Kind.” The somewhat heavy-handed lesson comes through loud and clear. “There’s a message, he wants us to think,” hints Walstead to clue in more obtuse readers…and concluding scenes of smiling people young and otherwise exchanging hugs and knuckle bumps, holding doors for a wheelchair rider, and dancing through clouds of sparkles indicate that they, at least, have gotten it. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Sugary uplift, shrink-wrapped for the masses. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2022
ISBN: 9781728268781
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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