A simple, contemporary introduction to the holiday focused on the children’s point of view.
Families in a vibrant community celebrate Hanukkah.
People bustle around in the wintry weather, preparing for the holiday. On the first holiday night, Max, his mother, and his grandparents light the first candle. Throughout the book, varied festivities take place in different homes. After lighting the menorah, families give gifts, prepare foods such as jelly doughnuts, latkes, and Hanukkah cookies topped with Jewish stars, and play dreidel. Aunts, uncles, and cousins come to visit; a young couple (David is dark-skinned; Jillian is light-skinned) celebrate their first Hanukkah in a new apartment. On the eighth night, families gather in the synagogue for a big party and the rabbi begins to tell the story of the holiday’s origins. At home, Max and his mom have lit all eight candles of their menorah, and as they look out their window, “fireworks burst overhead.” This relatively new Hanukkah tradition ends the festival and this straightforward tale perfectly. Although some streets are pictured with old-fashioned cobblestones, the colorful scenes also depict modern-looking houses and buildings. (Could that be the London Eye on the last spread in this English import?) Max and his family are light-skinned, as are most characters in their community, though several people of color also appear. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A simple, contemporary introduction to the holiday focused on the children’s point of view. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-68464-441-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A high-spirited night free of frights.
Actor Plaza and writer/producer Murphy join forces for another bewitching picture book.
Halloween is always a dismal time for Pheenie the witch, because her parties are such failures—until the day spunky young Luna Lopez, who yearns to be a helpful bruja like her grandma in Puerto Rico, appears on her porch. The two strike a bargain: Pheenie will instruct Luna in spellcasting in return for Luna’s help planning and organizing a properly spook-tacular event. Luna helps Pheenie clean up the house and encourages her to substitute tasty cider for wormy trick-or-treat apples and to put out kid-friendly snacks like candy corn and cookies in place of the witch’s typical candied spiders and baked troll fingers. The effervescent narrative is further stoked by several rhymed spells and suitably energetic illustrations. Peck sets the tale in a racially diverse urban neighborhood, and as the witching hour approaches (at around eight p.m., according to the clock on the mantel), in troops a group of eager-looking young partygoers in upscale costumes to play hide-and-seek with real ghosts and dance to a goblin band. It’s a Halloween hullaballoo! Elderly Pheenie is pale-skinned; Luna is tan-skinned.
A high-spirited night free of frights. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: July 29, 2025
ISBN: 9780593693018
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sugary uplift, shrink-wrapped for the masses.
An elusive new quarry leads the How To Catch… kids on a merry chase through a natural history museum.
Taking at least a step away from the “hunters versus prey” vibe of previous entries in the popular series, the racially diverse group of young visitors dashes through various museum halls in pursuit of the eponymous dino—whose quest to “spread kindness and joy ’round the world” takes the form of a mildly tumultuous museum tour. In most of Elkerton’s overly sweet, color-saturated scenes, only portions of the Loveosaurus, who is purple and covered with pink hearts, are visible behind exhibits or lumbering off the page. But the children find small enticements left behind, from craft supplies to make cards for endangered species to pictures of smiley faces, candy heart–style personal notes (“You Rock!” “Give Hugs”), and, in the hall of medieval arms and armor, a sign urging them to “Be Honest Be Kind.” The somewhat heavy-handed lesson comes through loud and clear. “There’s a message, he wants us to think,” hints Walstead to clue in more obtuse readers…and concluding scenes of smiling people young and otherwise exchanging hugs and knuckle bumps, holding doors for a wheelchair rider, and dancing through clouds of sparkles indicate that they, at least, have gotten it. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Sugary uplift, shrink-wrapped for the masses. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2022
ISBN: 9781728268781
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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