by Alice B. McGinty ; illustrated by Jennifer Black Reinhardt ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 5, 2014
Every reader, sentimental or not, can enjoy the many holiday recipes at the end of the book.
This story will feel familiar to many readers, and some of them will find that oddly disconcerting.
There’s a famous Jewish folk tale: A man’s coat is wearing out, so he tailors it into a vest and, as it gets even older, into a button. When that button finally wears out, he’s left with only the story. McGinty’s book reads like that folk tale turned inside out. A rabbi’s congregation buys him a vest with beautiful silver buttons. Over the course of a year, the vest becomes more and more timeworn, and as the rabbi eats delicious holiday meals, the buttons pop off, first one at a time and then two at once. But there’s a surprise: The congregation has collected the buttons and sewn them onto a brand-new vest, even more beautiful than the old one. The inverted story is charming, if a little slight, but it may seem familiar for another reason. The use of language is often trite and sometimes mawkish. The expression “A happy congregation is the sunshine of my heart” appears with variations throughout the book. The book’s less sentimental readers may find they prefer the earlier folk tale. But Reinhardt’s watercolor-and-ink drawings are strange and captivating. The rabbi’s beard seems to point in two directions at once.
Every reader, sentimental or not, can enjoy the many holiday recipes at the end of the book. (glossary) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-58089-432-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
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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
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)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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by Rachel Bright ; illustrated by Nadia Shireen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 14, 2021
Sweet, reassuring fun—and a story to fully embrace.
A slug longs for a hug and finds it unexpectedly.
Doug the slug would really like a hug and plods on, seeking affection. But a caterpillar, bug, spider, and worm want no part of hugging a slug. They are just not feeling it (might they feel sluggish?), voicing their disdain in no uncertain terms with expressions like, “Grimy, slippy!” and “Squelchy, slimy!” What’s a slug to do? Undeterred, Doug keeps trying. He meets Gail, a snail with crimson lipstick and hip, red glasses; she happens to be as grimy and squelchy as he is, so he figures she is the hugger of his dreams. The two embark upon a madcap romantic courtship. Alas, Gail also draws the (slimy) line at hugging Doug. Finally, mournful Doug meets the best hugger and the true love of his life, proving there’s someone for everyone. This charmer will have readers rooting for Doug (and perhaps even wanting to hug him). Expressed in simple, jaunty verses that read and scan smoothly, the brief tale revolves around words that mainly rhyme with Doug and slug. Given that the story stretches vocabulary so well with regard to rhyming words, children can be challenged after a read-aloud session to offer up words that rhyme with slug and snail. The colorful and humorous illustrations are lively and cheerful; googly-eyed Doug is, like the other characters, entertaining and expressive. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Sweet, reassuring fun—and a story to fully embrace. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Dec. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-66590-046-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
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