Beary merry and bright.
Good things may come in small packages, but the best things aren’t things at all.
Esme is celebrating Christmas with Bear, a grayish-brown, anthropomorphic bear who appears to live with her. They find a last present under the tree with a gift tag reading “For Little Bunny Boo-Boo, Love, Santa.” While Bear wants to open the gift, Esme proposes they bring it to the intended recipient, though they don’t know who or where Little Bunny Boo-Boo is. Luckily, someone has placed helpful, very specific signs pointing the way through the snowy landscape. While others might’ve been deterred by signs describing the “TREACHEROUS PATH,” “HOWLING GALE,” and “DEEP, DEEP snow drifts” the pair must traverse to reach Little Bunny Boo-Boo, Esme and Bear persevere and carry the gift with them. When they arrive at the bespectacled brown rabbit’s cozy house, she welcomes the pair and eagerly opens the present, only to find it empty. But wait! A tiny note from Santa reveals that Little Bunny Boo-Boo, who’s only recently moved into her cabin, has actually received “exactly what [she] asked for”: new friends! Esme is depicted as a light-skinned human girl with black, straight hair and dark eyes in Fleming’s appealing, colorful illustrations, which place her characters in a snowy temperate forest.
Beary merry and bright. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-68010-173-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
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BOOK REVIEW
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience.
The How to Catch A… crew try for Comet.
Having already failed to nab a Halloween witch, the Easter Bunny, a turkey, a leprechaun, the Tooth Fairy, and over a dozen other iconic trophies in previous episodes of this bestselling series, one would think the racially diverse gaggle of children in Elkerton’s moonlit, wintry scenes would be flagging…but no, here they lay out snares ranging from a loop of garland to an igloo baited with reindeer moss to an enticing candy cane maze, all in hopes of snagging one of Santa’s reindeer while he’s busy delivering presents. Infused with pop culture–based Christmas cheer (“Now I’ve already seen the shelf with the elf”), Comet prances past the traps until it’s time to gather up the kids, most of whom look terrified, for a group snapshot with the other reindeer and then climb back into harness: “This was a great stop but a few million to go / Christmas Eve must continue with style!” Though festive, the verse feels trite and unlikely to entice youngsters. A sprinkling of “True Facts About Reindeer” (“They live in the tundra, where they have friends like the arctic bunny”) wrap up this celebration of the predatory spirit. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 9781728276137
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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