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LITTLE TREE

Name: LITTLE TREE
Author: E.E. Cummings
ISBN: 0-7868-0795-4

by E.E. Cummings & illustrated by Chris Raschka ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2001

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The little fir tree goes to town: Cummings’s poem about a Christmas tree serves as the inspiration for a little story about a little fir tree who wants nothing so much as to find “a new life, his dream life, in a far, far away place.” The full poem appears on one page, to be followed by Raschka’s (Waffle, p. 504, etc.) narrative expansion upon it. In muted green-and-yellow illustrations reminiscent of Chagall stained-glass windows, readers see a small gent who looks a lot like Santa Claus. He loads the little tree onto a flatbed (we are spared the cutting-down) to take it to the city, where a “little boy, a little girl, a little mother and father and their little dog walked up and down the little streets of the little big city, looking and looking for their own special, just right, one and only, perfect little tree.” If the substance of the story comes from Cummings, its delivery comes straight from Margaret Wise Brown, with loads of repetition and an almost hypnotic rhythm. Hand-drawn panels are packed with detail in what seems to be an almost Cubist attempt to portray every aspect of the city in one fell swoop. The human figures are uncomplicated and childlike, befitting this simple, winning story about how this one little tree finds “his own special place in the world, a place that was waiting for him all his life.” (Picture book. 3-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2001

ISBN: 0-7868-0795-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Hyperion

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2001

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

- BOOK REVIEW
LOVE
by E.E. Cummings & illustrated by Christopher Myers

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HOW TO CATCH A WITCH

by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 2, 2022

Not enough tricks to make this a treat.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

- BOOK REVIEW
HOW TO CATCH BIGFOOT
by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton

- BOOK REVIEW
HOW TO CATCH AN INVISIBLE BAD GUY
by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton

- BOOK REVIEW
HOW TO CATCH A GROUNDHOG
by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Emma Gillette & Andy Elkerton

PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

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PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

by James Dean ; illustrated by James Dean ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 18, 2018

Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among

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Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.

If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”

Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)