This book beautifully changes the narrative of gender and gender roles, but fair warning—the hug scene might bring a tear or...
Errol and his teddy, Thomas, play together all the time, so when Thomas is sad one day, Errol wants to know if he can help.
Thomas nervously tells Errol that she’s actually a girl teddy, and she wishes her name was Tilly. Errol hugs her, assuring her, “What matters is that you are my friend.” With Tilly feeling better, Errol calls their friend Ava to come play. On arriving, she greets Tilly by her old name, but Errol introduces Tilly. Ava tells her what a great name that is and invites her to go play. Tilly has one adjustment to make—she refashions her bow tie into a hair bow—and Ava, encouraging her to wear what she likes, takes her own hair bow off to let her long red hair go free. Life goes on as normal for Errol and Tilly, and as before, they ride Errol’s bike, plant vegetables in the garden, eat lunch in the treehouse, and have tea parties when it rains. Walton gently explains Tilly’s gender, which is a small ripple in the lives of children at play, and subtly pokes at gender roles with Errol’s tea parties and Ava’s robot building. MacPherson’s illustrations are sweet, with a sketchy, contemporary style. He draws Errol and Ava skinny, with white skin and pink noses. Tilly is plump with tiny ears.
This book beautifully changes the narrative of gender and gender roles, but fair warning—the hug scene might bring a tear or two. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 31, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-68119-210-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2016
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
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground.
A little red sleigh has big Christmas dreams.
Although the detailed, full-color art doesn’t anthropomorphize the protagonist (which readers will likely identify as a sled and not a sleigh), a close third-person text affords the object thoughts and feelings while assigning feminine pronouns. “She longed to become Santa’s big red sleigh,” reads an early line establishing the sleigh’s motivation to leave her Christmas-shop home for the North Pole. Other toys discourage her, but she perseveres despite creeping self-doubt. A train and truck help the sleigh along, and when she wishes she were big, fast, and powerful like them, they offer encouragement and counsel patience. When a storm descends after the sleigh strikes out on her own, an unnamed girl playing in the snow brings her to a group of children who all take turns riding the sleigh down a hill. When the girl brings her home, the sleigh is crestfallen she didn’t reach the North Pole. A convoluted happily-ever-after ending shows a note from Santa that thanks the sleigh for giving children joy and invites her to the North Pole next year. “At last she understood what she was meant to do. She would build her life up spreading joy, one child at a time.” Will she leave the girl’s house to be gifted to other children? Will she stay and somehow also reach ever more children? Readers will be left wondering. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 31.8% of actual size.)
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-72822-355-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
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