A Valentine’s Day review of shapes and a reminder that the perfect heart is the one full of love.
Valentine’s Day is all about hearts, but in this tale, some other shapes sneak in, too.
A “little friend” opens a valentine kit and, with moral support from their pet dog, attempts to make a heart-shaped valentine. But creating a heart is not as easy as it seems, and the child’s snipping and paper trimming ultimately result in a circle, a square, a rectangle, a triangle, and a star—and an ideal opportunity to review basic shapes. All the protagonist has to show for their work is a lot of frustration and a “great, big mess”—until they look at the shapes they’ve thrown on the floor. When the child adds glitter, ribbons, and some glue, the shapes come together to make a lovely piece of art and a valentine that’s “full of heart,” and the little one and their parents embrace—the perfect way to cap a family’s love-filled Valentine’s Day. At first, rhyming stanzas point readers toward the child’s goal of creating a heart, but page turns reveal a different shape. The rhyme in later stanzas provides clues and encourages listeners to guess the new shape. The little friend and their parents have dark brown skin. Featuring an adorable, wide-eyed tyke and plenty of pink and red, the illustrations capture the child’s diligent efforts at creating a heart and their emotional reaction to each seemingly failed—but ultimately successful—attempt. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A Valentine’s Day review of shapes and a reminder that the perfect heart is the one full of love. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-80393-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
It’s not whether you win or lose; it’s how many mediocre sequels you can squeeze out of Seussian property.
Since a reformed Grinch is hardly any fun, this follow-up Grinches him up once more.
Those seeking more of the same, prepare to receive precisely that. Christmas is coming (again!), and the Grinch can hardly wait. He’s been patient all year, and now he can finally show the Whos down in Who-ville how much he’s changed. When the Grinch learns of a tree-decorating contest, he figures that if he wins, it’ll prove he truly has the Christmas spirit. He throws himself into the task, but when it comes time to judge the trees, the Grinch is horrified to discover that he’s received only the second-place trophy. Can Cindy-Lou Who find the words to save the day? Replicating many of the original beats and wordplay of the original, this tale feels like less a sequel and more like a vaguely rewritten variation. Meanwhile, Ruiz’s art seeks to bridge the gap between the animated Chuck Jones version of the Grinch and the one depicted in the original book. This thankless task results in a strange uncanny valley between Seuss and Jones but does allow the artist a chance to colorize everything and lend some racial diversity to the Who population (Cindy-Lou is light-skinned). (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s not whether you win or lose; it’s how many mediocre sequels you can squeeze out of Seussian property. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780593563168
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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