Next book

CHRISTMAS WITH AUNTIE

A Yuletide tale featuring irresistible bunnies that also spotlights a cherished relationship.

The Christmas season is made extra special by time spent with a favorite auntie.

A charmingly illustrated family of bunnies welcomes Auntie into their warren for holiday fun. Auntie and a young bunny relative enjoy baking together, trimming the tree, listening to carols sung by a host of woodland creatures, and building a snowbunny, among other activities. Their forest home is richly adorned with cheery décor, with a blanket of white snow atop the warren. Rhyming text gently narrates, and the loving relationship between aunt and child is demonstrated through hugs, kisses, and kind words. Sweet details, like Christmas tree ornaments made from carrots and pine cones, add to the cozy and cheerful feel. Young readers will love sharing this story with their own aunties at Christmastime. Blank lines printed in the back serve as a space where an aunt can write a special message to a “favorite bunny,” and the opposite page has an area where a photo of auntie and child can be glued, turning this book into a keepsake. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A Yuletide tale featuring irresistible bunnies that also spotlights a cherished relationship. (Picture book. 0-5)

Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-5341-1173-8

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press

Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022

Awards & Accolades

Likes

  • Readers Vote
  • 17


Our Verdict

  • Our Verdict
  • GET IT


  • IndieBound Bestseller

Next book

LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S CHRISTMAS

Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...

Awards & Accolades

Likes

  • Readers Vote
  • 17


Our Verdict

  • Our Verdict
  • GET IT


  • IndieBound Bestseller

The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.

The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.

Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)

Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3

Page Count: 24

Publisher: HMH Books

Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014

Next book

SPOOKY POOKIE

A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character.

One of Boynton's signature characters celebrates Halloween.

It's Halloween time, and Pookie the pig is delighted. Mom helps the little porker pick out the perfect Halloween costume, a process that spans the entire board book. Using an abcb rhyme scheme, Boynton dresses Pookie in a series of cheerful costumes, including a dragon, a bunny, and even a caped superhero. Pookie eventually settles on the holiday classic, a ghost, by way of a bedsheet. Boynton sprinkles in amusing asides to her stanzas as Pookie offers costume commentary ("It's itchy"; "It's hot"; "I feel silly"). Little readers will enjoy the notion of transforming themselves with their own Halloween costumes while reading this book, and a few parents may get some ideas as well. Boynton's clean, sharp illustrations are as good as ever. This is Pookie's first holiday title, but readers will surely welcome more.

A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character. (Board book. 1-3)

Pub Date: July 7, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-553-51233-5

Page Count: 18

Publisher: Robin Corey/Random

Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016

Categories:
Close Quickview