Skip this feast
Pirates descend on the first Thanksgiving, and it’s not a pretty sight.
When Cap’n McNasty and the crew of the Knotty List find themselves with an empty galley, they follow their noses to Plymouth Rock. Invited to the table, they seat themselves and promptly start stuffing a giant sack with the bounty. When their hosts notice, the titular food fight erupts, with pies and pumpkins flying. The pirates beat a retreat with their loot only to discover when they get back to their ship that but one pea remains to be split among them. Young readers will wonder how that happened, as there is no evident hole in the sack; close examination of the pirates’ flight reveals that the mouth of the sack may not be held quite closed, though it’s not at all clear that this is the case in Jaskiel’s rather frantic painting. Impossible physics aside, this title is an eminently skippable one, as there’s hardly any stereotyping opportunity lost. The pirate captain himself has but one eye, one hand, and one leg; the Pilgrims are beneficent, and the Wampanoag guests (barely mentioned in the text) are hawk-nosed and bare-chested. There’s lots of disruption going on, but none of it is to the foundational myth of the first Thanksgiving. Add to this confusing compositions and limping verse, and there’s lots of reasons to leave this one on the shelf.
Skip this feast . (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4556-2285-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Pelican
Review Posted Online: Aug. 6, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
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
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
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