"Unfortunately, the well-meaning message is delivered by a character whose lack of affect has no likely appeal for the intended preschool audience. (Picture book. 3-5)"
A particularly poker-faced clown searches far and wide for happiness after the circus closes, only to find it after a most unexpected and unpleasant event.
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"Not quite the achievement that the Divine Comedy was, but a work that finds an artistic common denominator for Chaucer and Chwast."
As a follow-up of sorts to his illustrated Dante's Divine Comedy (2010), graphic artist Chwast embraces a kindred spirit in Chaucer.
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"Additional fare for the holiday shelf. (Picture book. 4-6)"
Earthy, muted watercolor drawings with blue outlined cartoon-styled characters show the Hanukkah story, from the looting and destruction of the Temple to the Maccabees' victory to the eight day miraculous burning of one day's supply of oil to the prime significance of the word "Hanukkah."
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"Backmatter includes the musical score and the original Aramaic version with suggestions for dramatic acting, as well as a good explanation by Rabbi Michael Strassfeld on the history and symbolic meaning of the song. (Picture book. 3-7)"
"Had Gadya" or "One Little Goat" traditionally brings the annual Passover Seder to a close as families jubilantly sing each portion over and over again.
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"Ingeniously constructed and designed with panache: a delightful addition to the genre. (Picture book. 3-9)"
The graphic designer who created The Alphabet Parade (1991) returns with an even more ebullient counting book patterned on ``The Twelve Days of Christmas'': ``In the fifth circus ring, my sister saw with me five dogs a-barking, four aerialists zooming, three monkeys playing, two elephants, and a daredevil on a high wire''—and so on, each spread exhibiting, for each of the numerals, new acts and performers, all of whom the reader is challenged to add up, variously, at the end.
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When Mathew Michael wakes up, he feels (and, in Chwast's boldly outlined picture, looks) like a sloth; at breakfast, he's a hungry bear; then he's a timid rabbit boarding the school bus, a tyrannosaur who gets in trouble on the playground, and so on- -until he becomes a boy ready for tucking in and an animal story.
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A cheerfully inventive array of characters march across the airy white space of this generously sized, square book, observed by a continuous row of spectators who also contribute to the fun and to the letter connections— which are listed at the end (as few as four for ``Xx,'' 35 for ``Ss'').
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