This book is heavy on concept and light on execution, and readers may be yawning before the end
Characters from familiar road signs come to life at night and get up to a bit of mischief in this nearly wordless book.
The leaping deer reaches up to sample the leaves from a tree; the farmer and tractor get busy plowing in the cornfield; the person who uses a wheelchair wheels away; the road-crew worker creates a sand castle with their shovel; the school child in trousers woos the one in a skirt with a flower; the running “[child] at play” goes for a swing; the two children on the seesaw pull down the toy and join the others in a quaint procession as they march up a hill together. The group removes the yellow circle from a traffic-signal sign and use the seesaw to fling it into the sky, where it becomes…the rising sun. They celebrate and then disperse. As a school bus approaches at the end, the deer is back in its place on the sign, leaving readers to infer the others are on their signs as well. The stark, computer-drawn landscapes are clearly intended to coordinate with the black silhouettes of the road-sign figures; however once readers get the premise, there is not much else to engage their attention, since the vast majority of this unusually long book is occupied by buildup.
This book is heavy on concept and light on execution, and readers may be yawning before the end . (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-1210-1
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
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
A successful swap from coconut tree to Christmas tree.
A Christmas edition of the beloved alphabet book.
The story starts off nearly identically to Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989), written by John Archambault and the late Bill Martin Jr, with the letters A, B, and C deciding to meet in the branches of a tree. This time, they’re attempting to scale a Christmas tree, not a coconut tree, and the letters are strung together like garland. A, B, and C are joined by the other letters, and of course they all “slip, slop, topple, plop!” right down the tree. At the bottom, they discover an assortment of gifts, all in a variety of shapes. As a team, the letters and presents organize themselves to get back up on the Christmas tree and get a star to the top. Holiday iterations of favorite tales often fall flat, but this take succeeds. The gifts are an easy way to reinforce another preschool concept—shapes—and the text uses just enough of the original to be familiar. The rhyming works, sticking to the cadence of the source material. The illustrations pay homage to the late Lois Ehlert’s, featuring the same bold block letters, though they lack some of the whimsy and personality of the original. Otherwise, everything is similarly brightly colored and simply drawn. Those familiar with the classic will be drawn to this one, but newcomers can enjoy it on its own.
A successful swap from coconut tree to Christmas tree. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781665954761
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
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