A superb celebration of storytelling when the truth proves insufficient.
A whodunit where the “who” and the “dunit” are the least interesting parts of the story.
Cat has just walked in to discover a cookie jar shattered on the floor, the cookies nowhere to be seen. When asked to explain what happened, cheeky Mouse is more than happy to oblige. Mouse tells a story of how the cookies, tired of being cooped up, destroyed their own jar and are now wandering the countryside, free. “Honestly we should be happy for them.” When Cat doesn’t buy it, Mouse follows up the tale with one about a slimy monster, then one about an alien named Georgette, then one about a bug with multiple hungry relatives. Cat screams for Mouse to just tell the real story, so Mouse does. “I stole and ate all the cookies, and then the jar fell and broke. The end.” Morality isn’t in question here. In fact, it’s only at this point that Cat realizes how dull the truth can be. Ultimately, Cat asks for another cookie story, which Mouse provides…for a cookie. Brimming with marvelous read-aloud potential (frustrated characters make for fantastic vocal oscillations), Ruzzier’s latest provides plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, many stemming from Cat and Mouse’s odd-couple relationship. The text is simple enough for younger readers, while the surreal watercolors are the perfect complement to Mouse’s out-of-this-world imaginings.
A superb celebration of storytelling when the truth proves insufficient. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9781419755262
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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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