An infectious, pea-sized romp.
Having conquered the alphabet (LMNO Peas, 2010), numbers (1-2-3 Peas, 2012), and colors (Little Green Peas: A Big Book of Colors, 2014), Baker’s goofy spherical seeds return to revel in the seasons and holidays in this book of months.
“Hap-pea January! Let’s get going. / Grab your mittens—hooray, it’s snowing!” With this jubilant declaration, Baker’s green veggies make merry in a snowy landscape, skiing with abandon, tobogganing by fours, and casting snowballs at one another. In the middle of this jamboree, a giant “January”—its letters colored in cool blues and purples—dominates the double-page spread. One conspicuous pea holding a “1” stands amid all the action. This particular legume acts as a guide of sorts, counting out the months as its round comrades partake in every seasonal change and holiday celebration. Each double-page spread hosts a month, from January to December, with bright and colorful digital artwork. Naturally, the big festive days make an appearance: Valentine’s Day in February, Halloween in October. Baker also includes the end and beginning of the school year (June and September, respectively), casting summer as a joyous paradise. The rhyming text is relaxed and sparse, conjuring up a lighthearted tone that matches the peas’ humorous antics. (A shoutout to LMNO Peas in June elicits a hearty chuckle.)
An infectious, pea-sized romp. (Picture book. 2-8)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5854-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2016
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
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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