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
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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