Holiday customs come to life in this festive and heartwarming tale.
A child shares a joyful family tradition of making cascarones—hollow eggshells filled with confetti—for Easter.
The family begins saving eggshells in January, carefully blowing out the yolks and whites through small holes. By the time Easter nears, they’ve collected 100 empty shells, ready to be painted in bright, vibrant colors. Next, the family members fill each egg with confetti and seal the holes with glue and tissue paper. It’s hard to wait for Easter, but when the day arrives, Papá hides the eggs in the park for the youngest family members to find. The narrator’s younger brother, Nicolás, has just learned to walk, so this will be his first egg hunt! After all the eggs are found, Nicolás gets a big surprise when his sibling shows him an especially fun tradition: cracking the filled eggs on each other’s heads, creating a colorful explosion of confetti. The children delight in the messy fun. This sweet, simple story not only carefully describes the process of making cascarones, but also captures the pure joy of cracking the eggs. The vibrant watercolor illustrations highlight the cultural celebration, with expressive faces adding to the charm. Presented in both English and Spanish (with Ventura Medina providing the Spanish translation), this bilingual story allows readers to enjoy the narrative in both languages. Characters are Latine, with brown skin and hair.
Holiday customs come to life in this festive and heartwarming tale. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 31, 2025
ISBN: 9798893750157
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Piñata Books/Arte Público
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
A predictable series entry, mitigated as usual by the protagonists’ perennially energetic positivity.
A holiday-centered spinoff from the duo behind the inspired The Day the Crayons Quit (2013).
With Green Crayon on vacation, how can the waxy ones pull off a colorful St. Patrick’s Day celebration with Duncan, their (unseen) owner? Through their signature combo of cooperation and unwavering enthusiasm, of course. Blue and Yellow collaborate on a field of shamrocks that blends—however spottily—into green. Nearly invisible White Crayon supplies an otherwise unclothed light-skinned leprechaun with undies, and Orange draws a pair of pants that match the wee creature’s iconic beard and hair. Pink applies colors to a vest, and Purple, a natty jacket and boots. Chunky Toddler Crayon contributes a “perfect” scribbly blue hat; Beige and Brown team up for the leprechaun’s harp. In arguably the best bit, Black exuberantly manifests a decidedly unvariegated rainbow, while Gold’s pot of coins is right on the money, hue-wise. Their ardor undimmed by the holiday’s missing customary color, everyone assembles to party. Though the repartee among the crayons isn’t as developed as in previous outings, the book hews close to Daywalt and Jeffers’ winning formula, and there’s still enough here to keep readers chuckling. And, in a droll “wait for it” moment nicely calibrated for storytime, Green returns from vacation, sunglasses and suitcase in hand: “Did I miss anything while I was gone?” (The cover illustrations do hint at some Green-inflected remediation.)
A predictable series entry, mitigated as usual by the protagonists’ perennially energetic positivity. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2024
ISBN: 9780593624333
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, springtime-themed reworking of a beloved tale.
The classic picture book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989) gets a makeover for Easter as the letters of the alphabet locate and decorate eggs.
The mission is simple: “Chicka chicka peek peek. / Everybody seek seek! / Find all the eggs / in the pretty pink tree.” The letters are making their way up the flowering tree in search of the hidden eggs when a “SNEEZE!” scatters everyone and the eggs fall and crack. Luckily, a bunny hops by with a haul of new ones, which the letters then paint and bedazzle, eventually sharing the newly decorated eggs with a group of bunnies. This picture book is a successfully Easter-fied version of the original: The letters go up; the letters fall down. Truly, though, that’s all the preschool crowd needs. Chung’s illustrations are simple and familiar, a direct echo of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. The letters appear in colorful, bold, block form. The book has few added details, just focal images like the tree and its pink flowers, the colorful eggs, tufts of grass, and some friendly rabbits. The alphabet appears in order (both upper- and lowercase letters) at the book’s open and close. The rhyming text follows the iconic cadence of the source material, making for a worthy read-aloud that will keep little hands turning pages.
A sweet, springtime-themed reworking of a beloved tale. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2026
ISBN: 9781665990646
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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BOOK REVIEW
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