The action appropriately snowballs in this uproariously funny seasonal romp.
In this children’s book, animals take over a house left empty during Christmas.
The night before traveling for the holiday, Katy Randall spies a frog shivering at the window. Leaving the next morning, the girl accidentally drops her mitten, propping the front door open. The frog moves in to enjoy a nice, warm, quiet house, but then a host of animals—beavers, bears, rabbits, owls, and more—discovers the open door. The frog lays down some house rules (clean up your mess; no eating anyone) to cope. On Christmas Day, the animals throw a huge party and are almost caught by people looking through the window. Thinking fast, the creatures pose like Santa, his sleigh, and his reindeer, with the frog sporting a fake red nose as Rudolph. They depart before the Randalls return but leave a few surprises, like fur on the towels. Stranger still is a certificate saying the family’s won a prize for the town’s best Christmas window display, citing their creative use of “stuffed animals.” Katy makes sure to leave her mitten in the door every year. Langteau, who has written several children’s books, tells a hilarious Christmas story with a building sense of anarchy. Quatrains rhyming in an abcb pattern offer a rollicking rhythm emphasized with typography: “And soon, just like that— / Christmas Day had arrived / and their lives felt like one giant treat / They sang and they danced, / and exchanged simple gifts. / But what they did mostly was EAT!” Still, parents may want to warn kids not to follow Katy’s example considering the dangers of possible burglars. Debut illustrator Brannon provides full-page, soft-edged images in rich, glowing colors dominated by tawny red-orange, deep blue, and pine green; the Randalls have terra-cotta skin. She underscores the book’s energy and humor with details such as the rabbits’ racetrack chalked on the floor and the wonderfully ridiculous, impromptu Christmas display.
The action appropriately snowballs in this uproariously funny seasonal romp.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-578-55965-0
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Shake the Moon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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Sugary uplift, shrink-wrapped for the masses.
An elusive new quarry leads the How To Catch… kids on a merry chase through a natural history museum.
Taking at least a step away from the “hunters versus prey” vibe of previous entries in the popular series, the racially diverse group of young visitors dashes through various museum halls in pursuit of the eponymous dino—whose quest to “spread kindness and joy ’round the world” takes the form of a mildly tumultuous museum tour. In most of Elkerton’s overly sweet, color-saturated scenes, only portions of the Loveosaurus, who is purple and covered with pink hearts, are visible behind exhibits or lumbering off the page. But the children find small enticements left behind, from craft supplies to make cards for endangered species to pictures of smiley faces, candy heart–style personal notes (“You Rock!” “Give Hugs”), and, in the hall of medieval arms and armor, a sign urging them to “Be Honest Be Kind.” The somewhat heavy-handed lesson comes through loud and clear. “There’s a message, he wants us to think,” hints Walstead to clue in more obtuse readers…and concluding scenes of smiling people young and otherwise exchanging hugs and knuckle bumps, holding doors for a wheelchair rider, and dancing through clouds of sparkles indicate that they, at least, have gotten it. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Sugary uplift, shrink-wrapped for the masses. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2022
ISBN: 9781728268781
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2023
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