An appealing production overall and a helpful introduction for children preparing to see the ballet, but it’s one that needs...
This introduction to the ballet closely follows the production of the New York City Ballet, as originated by George Balanchine.
Protagonist Marie is introduced on the cover as a blonde, white sylph dancing with her nutcracker toy. All the standard elements of the story are introduced in order, including the transformation of the Christmas tree, cleverly illustrated by shifting the page orientation by 90 degrees to accommodate its sudden growth. Marie and the Prince travel through the Land of Sweets, where they meet the characters from the ballet, such as the Sugarplum Fairy and Mother Ginger, before returning home in their magical sleigh drawn by reindeer. This interpretation has the advantage of a text that is not too long or complicated for young children. The captivating illustrations have an art nouveau look, with swirling skirts, trailing ribbons, and flowing hair styles. A concerning aspect of the style is the noticeable thinness of the female dancers, especially Marie and the other little girls at the party. Stick-thin arms and legs for little girls do not reflect reality and reinforce problematic body-image ideals. The main characters in the story are all white, while some of the party guests and dancers are from other ethnic groups. Two final pages include additional facts and the history of the New York City Ballet production.
An appealing production overall and a helpful introduction for children preparing to see the ballet, but it’s one that needs some real little girls as artist's models. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5829-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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
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