While this plot is not as strong as other Little Hedgehog outings, fans will enjoy another cozy Christmas story about the...
Little Hedgehog celebrates another happy Christmas with his animal buddies in this latest entry in a popular series.
This time the group of friends is spending several days leading up to Christmas at Little Hedgehog’s comfortable home. They decorate their Christmas tree together in harmonious fashion on the first night, but after their second night sleeping on the floor together, everyone is in a cranky mood. Someone was snoring, someone else couldn’t sleep, a third someone stole cookies off the Christmas tree, and worst of all, Little Hedgehog has lost his special red hat. On Christmas morning, Little Hedgehog receives a new red hat knitted by Badger, and the old red hat is discovered hidden in the Christmas tree with a sleeping squirrel nestled inside. The squirrel joins in the Christmas morning festivities as the animals play with their Christmas toys. As in previous entries in the series, Little Hedgehog’s hat has a flocked, velvety surface that adds an additional layer of interest to the appealing, large-format illustrations. The animals are cute and cuddly as always, especially Little Hedgehog, and their outdoor activities, including skating and sledding, complement the warm, comfortable indoor scenes of the burrow decorated for the holiday.
While this plot is not as strong as other Little Hedgehog outings, fans will enjoy another cozy Christmas story about the endearing creature and his special hat. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68010-068-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
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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