A refreshing angle on the (very) oft-told tale.
Little Clausie has always been different—but that turns out to be a good thing for everyone in town.
When young Clausie is born, he doesn’t look like the other babies, and he doesn’t cry. By age 6, Clausie is even more unusual. He wears the same red outfit day after day. His laugh is different. He is so considerate that he can’t play competitive sports. And his dog, Dasher, is very, very big. In Clausie’s “supersecret” workshop, he and Grannie make toys and doodads. It’s Grannie who assures him that being different is wonderful: “You’re one of a kind!” But Clausie isn’t convinced. When a major snowfall closes the roads and the train tracks just before Christmas, Clausie worries about all his neighbors who won’t receive their gifts from family members far away. Clausie makes a plan. His family helps him get ready, and Dasher helps him with deliveries…and the whole town is delighted with what becomes the beginning of a tradition. Grannie was right: His differences make others happy. With energetic strokes and expressive gestures, Barnes’ illustrations are lively and engaging. The story’s sweet message of self-acceptance combines well with the idea that Santa could be a legend based on a very thoughtful person. Clausie and his family are depicted as White; there is some racial diversity among the townspeople and friends.
A refreshing angle on the (very) oft-told tale. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5341-1101-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
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
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Not enough tricks to make this a treat.
Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.
Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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