A toe-tapping journey to Grandmother’s house that will have readers begging for an encore.
On Gram’s birthday, six musical siblings scour the city to find the perfect gift.
A bouncing, repeating rhyme follows the children like a wandering jazz solo as they search for a present for their grandmother on their way to her apartment. They find various rhythmic knickknacks on their path—a “scritchy-scratchy pinecone,” “three jingly-jangly quarters,” “some tippy-tappy pencils,” and more—but nothing seems quite right. “Gram won’t want some pencils. / Some tippy-tappy pencils. Nah, Gram won’t want some pencils!” “Yeah, but I do!” Each child claims one of the rejected items and brings it along, recognizing potential treasure within an otherwise mundane object. A stream of musical notes trails the children as they tap, jangle, and swish all the way to their grandmother’s place. Gram is thrilled when they burst through her door singing Stevie Wonder’s “Happy Birthday.” Using the objects they’ve collected as makeshift instruments, the family celebrates raucously, proving that the best gift of all is love—and a catchy beat! Digital illustrations in vibrant bursts of color provide a stellar backdrop of detailed scenes that readers will pore over, with jazz posters on the walls of the family’s charming Victorian house, swirling musical notes, and expressive cartoon faces unique to each child. The family is Black; they vary in skin tone and hairstyle.
A toe-tapping journey to Grandmother’s house that will have readers begging for an encore. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780593110751
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2024
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
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
Lighthearted and un-scary enough for bedtime.
Talk show host Fallon and illustrator Deas follow up 5 More Sleeps ’Til Christmas (2020) with a story of a youngster preparing for Halloween.
“It’s FIVE more sleeps ’til Halloween, / that spooky time of year / where all the ghosts are wide awake / as nighttime’s drawing near.” A calendar page with a large numeral 5 curls before a bright orange pumpkin. An orange-haired, light-skinned moppet wearing an enormous pair of blue glasses is hunkered down in bed with Gary the dog, whose vibrant blue coloring matches the bedspread. Occasionally accompanied by a sibling, the young narrator counts down day by day, describing seasonal activities: picking out a costume, navigating a corn maze, watching scary movies, taking part in a parade, going on a hayride, and trick-or-treating. The rhyming verses are sometimes a bit rocky but always fun. The text is periodically punctuated by the word boo, which appears in large, cartoonlike lettering; that, along with the calendar countdown motif, adds a pleasant repetition. Though the child confides feelings of trepidation (“What if bats fly in my room? / I think I’ll close my window now”), descriptions of scary moments are always offset by brightly colored, exuberant artwork. Humor abounds: Gary looks both hilarious and sweet dressed in a ghost costume that matches the narrator’s. The final page neatly closes the circle as the child goes from anticipating the holiday to participating in it and back again.
Lighthearted and un-scary enough for bedtime. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9781250857798
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
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