Attractive—but as ephemeral as a Christmas card.
Christmas revelries are presented on shaped pages in this French import.
In this “bookscape,” thick board pages form the shapes of: two families making cookies (one on each side of the page), two snow-covered cottages (ditto), a winter landscape featuring animals and snowmen, and, finally, a Christmas tree with a star on top. Terse, forgettable (and uncredited) text is sprinkled throughout, but it is more pro forma than necessary. The droll art in gentle colors employs simple shapes and clean lines. The people, who look like they could be iced Christmas cookies themselves, range in skin color from pink to beige and do not seem to be very diverse. There are a couple of clever moments for the sharp-eyed: A squirrel steals a carrot off a snowman, and a red-nosed reindeer makes an appearance. Safety-conscious adults may wonder why lit candles are being used to decorate the tree or a child is eating cookie dough off a spoon. While the spine is truncated to accommodate the overlapping, shaped pages, the extra-thick pages make it relatively sturdy. While it may physically survive more than one season, however, the slight content doesn’t encourage holiday rereading.
Attractive—but as ephemeral as a Christmas card. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4521-7491-4
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
Exactly what readers want and expect from the board-book master.
Pookie and family celebrate Thanksgiving.
Boynton’s precocious little pig is back in this holiday installment. The family gets ready for Thanksgiving by baking pies, welcoming Nemmy and Boppa for dinner, and sharing gratitude (and pie!). Boynton’s familiar rhyming text and simple, thick-lined illustrations are exactly what readers have come to expect from this series: Pookie is a little silly, the story bounces along, and the artwork is warm and cozy. Though most of the action takes place inside, the passage of day is clear through the window, from daylight to the setting sun. Decorations and a tree with just a few leaves on it indicate the autumnal season. There are two pages where numbers are called out, presented differently from the rest of the typeface (Pookie and their parents prepare apple pie and one pumpkin pie, and there will be five guests at dinner). The only bolded digits are one and five, even though the text does mention that there will be a total of two pies—a stylistic choice that seems to point readers to counting practice but that feels a bit random. Overall, though, this is a worthy new story about one of Boynton’s most beloved characters. True to form, it’s a toddler-friendly read, providing context for the festivities and a sweet representation of gratitude. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Exactly what readers want and expect from the board-book master. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66592-263-0
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Boynton Bookworks
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
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An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver.
The farmyard's chickens experience Halloween.
A round, full moon shines in the sky, and the chickens of Boynton's barnyard are feeling “nervous.” Pumpkins shine “with flickering eyes,” witches and wizards wander the pastures, and one chicken has seen “a mouse of enormous size.” It’s Halloween night, and readers will delight as the chickens huddle together and try to figure out what's going on. All ends well, of course, and in Boynton's trademark silly style. (It’s really quite remarkable how her ranks of white, yellow-beaked chickens evoke rows of candy corn.) At this point parents and children know what they're in for when they pick up a book by the prolific author, and she doesn't disappoint here. The chickens are silly, the pigs are cute, and the coloring and illustrations evoke a warmth that little ones wary of Halloween will appreciate. For children leery of the ghouls and goblins lurking in the holiday's iconography, this is a perfect antidote, emphasizing all the fun Halloween has to offer.
An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7611-9300-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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