For mouse-loving children and families looking for an alternative to the well-known poem.
A murine version of the classic Christmas poem.
“ ’Twas the night before Christmas, / when all through the house / Not a creature was stirring / …except for one mouse.” A little white mouse clad in a fur-trimmed red suit winks at readers and holds a shushing paw to its mouth. Turner goes on to give “A Visit From St. Nicholas” a mouse-themed spin, casting the reindeer as red and green stag beetles and sending her Santa “through / a crack in the wall” rather than down the chimney. Although she supplies the stag beetles with appropriate names (“On Scatter and Skitter!” urges Santa), curiously, she omits the narrator character from the tale, which gives the proceedings an incomplete air. Readers may be so busy looking at the details in Løvlie’s illustrations they may not feel the absence. She depicts snoozing mouse children in a tiny shoe, a matchbox, and a flour scoop; gives the stag beetles pink cheeks, black button noses, and smiles; and festoons the mouse hole with paper-mouse chains and dried fruit rounds. It’s all extremely cozy but kept from being cloyingly so with a limited palette of muted (rather than forest) green, red, and dark blue; the swooshes of snow Santa leaves in his wake give a bracing, fresh feeling.
For mouse-loving children and families looking for an alternative to the well-known poem. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5037-5495-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sunbird Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience.
The How to Catch A… crew try for Comet.
Having already failed to nab a Halloween witch, the Easter Bunny, a turkey, a leprechaun, the Tooth Fairy, and over a dozen other iconic trophies in previous episodes of this bestselling series, one would think the racially diverse gaggle of children in Elkerton’s moonlit, wintry scenes would be flagging…but no, here they lay out snares ranging from a loop of garland to an igloo baited with reindeer moss to an enticing candy cane maze, all in hopes of snagging one of Santa’s reindeer while he’s busy delivering presents. Infused with pop culture–based Christmas cheer (“Now I’ve already seen the shelf with the elf”), Comet prances past the traps until it’s time to gather up the kids, most of whom look terrified, for a group snapshot with the other reindeer and then climb back into harness: “This was a great stop but a few million to go / Christmas Eve must continue with style!” Though festive, the verse feels trite and unlikely to entice youngsters. A sprinkling of “True Facts About Reindeer” (“They live in the tundra, where they have friends like the arctic bunny”) wrap up this celebration of the predatory spirit. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 9781728276137
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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