Not a great choice for this year’s holiday list.
Esther the gorilla chooses a batch of inappropriate Hanukkah gifts in this misguided tale.
Esther lives in an upscale jungle neighborhood complete with smartphones, a swanky mall and all the pristine flora of a well-kept jungle suburb. There, menorahs are lit and displayed in windows on the first night of the holiday. Esther makes her rounds with various gifts for her friends, which turn out to be a bit thoughtless. Sarah the monkey receives a pair of socks big enough for an elephant, Hal the hyena gets a jungle gym he cannot climb, Josephine the turtle finds a jogging suit ridiculous, and Oscar the elephant is insulted by the book 100 Jokes About Elephants. In contrast, Esther receives some wonderful gifts, which causes her to become disconcerted with her own poor choices. Though Sarah tells her that “[p]resents are not the most important part of Hanukkah,” Esther decides to hold a party on the last night to resolve her blunders. After lighting candles, eating latkes and singing songs, everyone exchanges Esther’s gifts so that each friend leaves with something suitable. Deeply hued paintings of anthropomorphic middle-class life are populated by well-dressed animal caricatures; they emphasize the unfortunate theme of a shopping-oriented holiday rather than the more significant features of a Hanukkah observance.
Not a great choice for this year’s holiday list. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7613-9043-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Cookie-cutter predictability.
After all the daring escapes in the How To Catch… series, will the kids be able to catch Santa?
Oddly, previous installments saw the children trying (and failing) to catch an elf and a reindeer, but both are easily captured in this story. Santa, however, is slippery. Tempted but not fooled by poinsettias, a good book (attached to a slingshot armed with a teddy bear projectile), and, of course, milk and cookies, Santa foils every plan. The hero in a red suit has a job to do. Presents must be placed, and lists must be checked. He has no time for traps and foolery (except if you’re the elf, who falls for every one of them). Luckily, Santa helps the little rascal escape each time. Little is new here—the kids resort to similar snares found in previous works: netting, lures, and technological wonders such as the Santa Catcher 5000. Although the rhythm falters quite a bit (“How did we get out you ask? / It looked like we were done for. / Santa’s magic is very real, / and I cannot reveal more”), fans of the series may not mind. Santa and Christmas just might be enough to overcome the flaws. Santa and the elf are light-skinned, one of the children is brown-skinned, and the other presents as Asian. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Cookie-cutter predictability. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781728274270
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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