This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers.
The bestselling series (How to Catch an Elf, 2016, etc.) about capturing mythical creatures continues with a story about various ways to catch the Easter Bunny as it makes its annual deliveries.
The bunny narrates its own story in rhyming text, beginning with an introduction at its office in a manufacturing facility that creates Easter eggs and candy. The rabbit then abruptly takes off on its delivery route with a tiny basket of eggs strapped to its back, immediately encountering a trap with carrots and a box propped up with a stick. The narrative focuses on how the Easter Bunny avoids increasingly complex traps set up to catch him with no explanation as to who has set the traps or why. These traps include an underground tunnel, a fluorescent dance floor with a hidden pit of carrots, a robot bunny, pirates on an island, and a cannon that shoots candy fish, as well as some sort of locked, hazardous site with radiation danger. Readers of previous books in the series will understand the premise, but others will be confused by the rabbit’s frenetic escapades. Cartoon-style illustrations have a 1960s vibe, with a slightly scary, bow-tied bunny with chartreuse eyes and a glowing palette of neon shades that shout for attention.
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-3817-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Ho ho ho and a merry publication to an old classic newly found.
A beloved Yuletide story gets an unexpected sequel, replete with hijinks.
Recently discovered in an overstuffed file cabinet by Barry’s son, this follow-up to Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree (1963) has finally found its way to publication, decades after its creation. Plagued once more by Christmas tree woes, Mr. Willowby, a mustachioed, white-presenting elder, is pacing his stately manor. Whereas in the previous book, his tree was too tall, now it looks like he won’t have one at all! The delivery van is stuck in the snow, leaving the kindly old man bereft. Along comes Barnaby Bear, who, upon seeing his friend’s plight, finds an ideal tree on a hill high above and makes the unfortunate decision to ride the conifer down to the house. Turns out, steering a tree is an impossibility, and the next thing you know, Frisky Fox, Dusty Duck, Benjamin Rabbit, and Mistletoe Mouse are along for the ride. A crash-landing through Mr. Willowby’s front door and a special cameo appearance from Santa all make this the happiest holiday on record. Readers young and old needn’t have any familiarity with Mr. Willowby’s earlier Christmastide adventure to appreciate the wild antics. Barry’s tale hasn’t aged a day; its rhymes remain intact and scan with alacrity, while the fun and frolicsome art taps into the cartoonish nature of the shenanigans.
Ho ho ho and a merry publication to an old classic newly found. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9780593708194
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
Shines a triumphant spotlight on Day of the Dead festivities.
A brown-skinned Latine family prepares for and then celebrates the Day of the Dead.
Mar, Paz, and their parents have much to do to get ready to welcome family for the big celebration: getting marigolds and sugar skulls at the market, making almond cookies, and writing poems. There are special revelations about ways in which the children are like their grandfather and great-grandmother as well as singing and dancing. At the heart of it all, Abuelita is greeted joyfully and shares family stories. The illustrations are appropriately brightly colored and show off many of the elements of the Day of the Dead. The special marigolds, skulls, and symbolic monarch butterflies thread across pages, tying the celebration and the living and the dead together. Aranda explains why the holiday matters as well as the importance of learning about and preserving ancestral memories. Her text contains just enough information to be beneficial to young readers without overwhelming them. The nuances of the connections between ancestors and current generations, and between lost loved ones and living ones, are expertly captured. Above all, the story centers on the joys of family and tradition. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Shines a triumphant spotlight on Day of the Dead festivities. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-525-51428-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
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