This lovely book about forgiveness shows that friendship can form even in the most unlikely situations.
Deer, who has a talent for treats, tracks down a disruptive force in this Spanish import.
When his routine of collecting ingredients in the quietest part of the forest and turning them into sweet jams, cakes, and pies for a daily feast is disrupted, Deer must investigate. Who would be so rude as to run roughshod over the forest area where Deer goes every day, to break into Deer’s home, and, most egregiously, to take his Secret Recipe Book? The chef’s anxiety-inducing journey leads him to the home of Rabbit, who turns out to be a nervous, lonely creature. Even after Deer shouts at him, the pitiful rabbit still wishes he could bake like Deer so that “more people would come to see me. I thought I could be like you!” What happens next in Isern’s follow-up to The Lonely Mailman (2017) hinges on an act of kindness so perfect it would be a different kind of crime to spoil it here. As in Mailman, Montero Galán’s illustrations capture the lives of these anthropomorphic animals with warm, natural hues, whether it’s the darkening sky of sunset after a frustrating day or the winding path taken through all the neighbors’ homes by the aroma from Deer’s kitchen. Rabbit’s emotions, in particular, are heartbreaking as rendered, the huge orange eyes practically twitching off the page.
This lovely book about forgiveness shows that friendship can form even in the most unlikely situations. (recipe) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 97884-16733-92-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cuento de Luz
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2020
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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
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BOOK REVIEW
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