Budding ballerinas will surely appreciate this tale, but also share with any child who may need an example of what...
Get ready to applaud the pluck of a young zombie with a passion for ballet.
Zombelina loves dancing: “I moonwalk with mummies and boogie with bats. / I wiggle with werewolves and rock out with rats. / I spin like a specter and glide like a ghost. / But I love to dance for my family the most.” With a vampire baby brother, a mother who is a witch and a mad scientist for a dad, this sure-footed protagonist comes from an eccentric clan supportive of her dream to be a ballerina. So on Saturday nights, she attends class with Madame Maladroit. Although her teacher is impressed with her talent, Zombelina’s classmates cringe and say she’s “taking [her] talents too far.” Here, Idle contrasts the studio’s ballerina-pink palette with the lime green presence of Zombelina, who has detached her leg from her hip socket in order to better execute a leg extension. The illustrations add fun and ably complement Crow’s rollicking, rhyming text. Some pages provide lush spreads, including some that are aglow in red hues during the night of Zombelina’s debut. Others feature vignettes showing her dedicated practice of pliés and pirouettes, popping against the white background.
Budding ballerinas will surely appreciate this tale, but also share with any child who may need an example of what determination and practice can accomplish when applied to what one loves. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 9, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-8027-2803-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Not enough tricks to make this a treat.
Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.
Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
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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