The teacher-friendly theme of cooperation and emotive characters suggest a good fit for all settings.
When Holiday, a triangular blue chap in a party hat, arrives, ready to take Monday’s place, the seven days react.
Yellow, square Monday, accustomed to kicking off each week, is firm: “While I do appreciate your offer, the other days and I have everything under control.” As Holiday unpacks anyway, peacemaker Tuesday demurs: “this Holiday seems kind of fun. Perhaps we could just see what happens….” Sociable Thursday introduces Holiday to the others, enthusiastically touting Friday’s weekly party. Saturday and Sunday, who “usually sleep all week,” show up in bedroom slippers. While Monday remains dismayed, the others marvel at celebratory cake and balloons. When Holiday announces he’d like to stay longer by usurping additional days’ spots, though, there’s new pushback from Wednesday and Friday. Regretting the conflict, Holiday contritely vows to leave. Tuesday offers a nifty compromise: Could Holiday return in a month or so? Even Monday sees the appeal of an occasional break. All ends well, with a nap for Monday through Sunday. Nelson’s digital collages use simple shapes, generalized facial features, and accessories for the armless, apparently arbitrarily shaped characters. Text is delivered mainly in dialogue bubbles. While the mini-drama nicely anchors the story, there’s no apparent significance to Holiday’s visit beyond a routine-disrupting excuse for a party.
(This book releases first as a digital edition, with print release currently scheduled for Aug. 4, 2020.)
The teacher-friendly theme of cooperation and emotive characters suggest a good fit for all settings. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-77306-200-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A bit predictable but pleasantly illustrated.
Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault’s classic alphabet book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989) gets the Halloween treatment.
Chung follows the original formula to the letter. In alphabetical order, each letter climbs to the top of a tree. They are knocked back to the ground in a jumble before climbing up in sequence again. In homage to the spooky holiday theme, they scale a “creaky old tree,” and a ghostly jump scare causes the pileup. The chunky, colorful art is instantly recognizable. The charmingly costumed letters (“H swings a tail. / I wears a patch. J and K don / bows that don’t match”) are set against a dark backdrop, framed by pages with orange or purple borders. The spreads feature spiderwebs and jack-o’-lanterns. The familiar rhyme cadence is marred by the occasional clunky or awkward phrase; in particular, the adapted refrain of “Chicka chicka tricka treat” offers tongue-twisting fun, but it’s repeatedly followed by the disappointing half-rhyme “Everybody sneaka sneak.” Even this odd construction feels shoehorned into place, since “sneaking” makes little sense when every character in the book is climbing together. The final line of the book ends on a more satisfying note, with “Everybody—time to eat!”
A bit predictable but pleasantly illustrated. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9781665954785
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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