Encore!
A veritable holiday feast for the eyes.
Hawthorne’s illustrations have a busy, folk-art style that will invite readers to pore over pages to find the animals, items, and people named in this old Christmas carol. Foil detailing on the cover art adds festive flair to the book’s design, but readers who associate Christmastime with wintry scenes will not find snowy landscapes here. An abundant use of light green in the grounds around the country house where the action unfolds lends a fresh feel to the picture book, perhaps offering a reminder that people in warm climes and in the Southern Hemisphere celebrate Christmas, too. Also welcome is the artist’s inclusion of a multiracial cast of people in later verses. Readers are invited to play an I spy sort of game with the pages, seeking out everything from the single partridge in a pear tree to the 12 drummers drumming at the book’s end. In most cases, the art, like the song itself, is cumulative in its presentation, though a marvelously spare double-page spread illustrating “five gold rings” eschews the finely detailed, more-distant scenes to instead present a close-up view of hands holding those rings laid out on small cloth decorated in red, green, and blue. This visual pause evokes the slower pace of that line in the song, clearly demonstrating the thoughtfulness with which Hawthorne approached her illustration.
Encore! (full lyrics, author’s note, game) (Picture book. 2-12)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-7112-4540-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Beloved Little Blue takes a bit of the mystery—and fear—out of Halloween costumes.
A lift-the-flap book gives the littlest trick-or-treaters some practice identifying partygoers under their costumes.
Little Blue Truck and his buddy Toad are off to a party, and they invite readers (and a black cat) along for the ride: “ ‘Beep! Beep! Beep!’ / says Little Blue. / ‘It’s Halloween!’ / You come, too.” As they drive, they are surprised (and joined) by many of their friends in costume. “Who’s that in a tutu / striking a pose / up on the tiniest / tips of her toes? / Under the mask / who do you see?” Lifting the flap unmasks a friend: “ ‘Quack!’ says the duck. / ‘It’s me! It’s me!’ ” The sheep is disguised as a clown, the cow’s a queen, the pig’s a witch, the hen and her chick are pirates, and the horse is a dragon. Not to be left out, Little Blue has a costume, too. The flaps are large and sturdy, and enough of the animals’ characteristic features are visible under and around the costumes that little ones will be able to make successful guesses even on the first reading. Lovely curvy shapes and autumn colors fade to dusky blues as night falls, and children are sure to notice the traditional elements of a Halloween party: apple bobbing, lit jack-o’-lanterns, and punch and treats.
Beloved Little Blue takes a bit of the mystery—and fear—out of Halloween costumes. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: July 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-544-77253-3
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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