When even the characters are tired of the book, it might be a warning sign.
There’s a joke that parents and teachers never get tired of.
Grown-ups think it’s endlessly funny to get simple things wrong, and that’s the one and only joke in this holiday picture book. An elephant and a kangaroo are clueless whether the Passover story they are escaping the zoo to celebrate was about “Ten Planes” or “Ten Plates,” or maybe it was “Ten Plagues,” as a chimp who knows better tells them. They spend the entire book arguing about random elements of the seder meal, which they think might be called a “party.” The long-suffering chimp provides the accurate information with each exchange. Children who aren’t familiar with the Jewish holiday may finish the book more confused than when they started. The animals, however, are beautiful, because they look delightfully unlike real animals. The elephant’s ears are white and purple curlicues shaped like hearts, and the kangaroo is a simple orange curve. The few, fleeting human beings depicted are mostly White and Jewish, although Moses’ skin has a puzzling grayish tone. The arguments about his name may be the most exhausting portion of the story. The animals call him “Morty” and “Milty.” A few pages later, the chimp finally loses all patience and says, “Don’t guess!…I’ll tell you,” and she explains the meaning of Passover foods in some detail. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.6-by-17.8-inch double-page spreads viewed at 59.4% of actual size.)
When even the characters are tired of the book, it might be a warning sign. (endnotes) (Picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5415-8897-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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