An unremarkable but effective way to inculcate familiarity with standard Christmas iconography
New babies don’t know much about Christmas. This simple board book aims to correct that situation.
The cover art of a smiling white snowman against a bright red background sporting a green-and-red stocking hat, scarf, and gloves invites readers in. Simple stock images, often of toys, one per page, highlight additional objects often associated with secular aspects of the holiday. Each item is shown in its most generic form, embossed and glossy against high-contrast backgrounds. Thankfully, not all the pictures are green and red. The first pages—of a snowflake and ornament—have blue and yellow backgrounds. The next two pictures, of a polar bear and penguin, are odd choices since they really have nothing to do with the holiday. A Christmas tree, angel, present, stocking, reindeer, and “santa” (the last printed in lowercase as if a generic) are more closely associated with the celebration. The angel is a knitted brown doll with a white handkerchief dress. The reindeer is a stuffed animal. Each object is clearly labeled, and an exclamation or question (“Look at her sparkly halo!”) in a smaller font extends the conversation. The final spread reprises all the images except the snowman.
An unremarkable but effective way to inculcate familiarity with standard Christmas iconography . (Board book. 6 mos.-2)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4654-6867-3
Page Count: 14
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
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
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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