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HAP-PEA VALENTINE'S DAY

From the Peas series

An amusing valentine confection, delivered in high style.

Baker’s industrious, pea green micro-veggies return to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

This cheerful tale focuses on celebration, cooperation, friendship, and heart-shaped everything: “pocket hearts” (the stitching on jeans), “chalky hearts” drawn on sidewalks, the “fluttery hearts” of butterflies’ wings, and “pizza hearts,” of course. (These peas are enthusiastic, opportunistic snackers.) While the rhyming text can be choppy in spots, Baker’s clever visual interpretations of the theme have plenty of compensatory charm as these busy legumes prepare—and share—their exuberant messages of love. They drive construction equipment up a mountain of candy hearts, tend a plot of heart-shaped flowers in the glow of a (heart-shaped) sun, excavate pink cookies from a gigantic jar, and load brimming bags of valentines into heart-patterned hot air balloons, scattering joy below. Sharp-eyed kids will spy not only a returning ladybug, but also a winged, pea-bodied Cupid who appears throughout, aiming to spread even more love. The peas have various hairstyles and wear different accessories, including hats and eyeglasses; one uses a wheelchair. Though all the peas are green, they vary somewhat in shading. A final illustration depicts Cupid, mission accomplished, peacefully slumbering on a pillowy cloud.

An amusing valentine confection, delivered in high style. (Picture book. 2-7)

Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2024

ISBN: 9781665940221

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2024

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HOW TO CATCH A WITCH

Not enough tricks to make this a treat.

Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.

Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland

Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022

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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...

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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

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