Aside from rhythmic bumps in her poetry, McConnell offers a Halloween picture-book adventure to stir the imagination,...
In their picture book for readers aged 4 to 8, first-time author McConnell and artist-illustrator Gregory put the “treat” in trick-or-treat with a sweet Halloween tale that takes an unexpected turn as a little boy discovers his best friend’s bewitching secret.
Told in colorful if uneven verse, McConnell’s first children’s book is, at its kind heart, a tale of friendship between a caring little boy and a mysterious little girl. “Friends for life” after Marlin dives to the rescue when Marsipity’s chair tips over in class, the pair can’t wait for Halloween to roll around. They missed out the year before due to the unfortunate Marsipity, “who tucked in tight in bed that night / missed Halloween in all its fright / with chicken pox, a stuffy nose / an achy tummy, and stubby toes / all together in illness throes.” This year, to Marlin’s surprise, Marsipity delays their much anticipated trick-or-treat adventure after a fortifying dinner of soup and bread by insisting on dessert. Not just any dessert as it happens, but a slice of Halloween pumpkin pie that transforms Marsipity into a little green witch—“her eyes they twinkle as her nose a wrinkle / begins to crease the end. / Wobbly and wimbly her legs go quite spindly.” The transformation complete, the pair sets out on a broom-flying, moonlit romp through the neighborhood, much to Marlin’s delight. McConnell has wisely teamed with accomplished artist Gregory, whose eye-filling illustrations—hand-drawn and digitally colored—resemble soft watercolor paintings that generously elevate the story’s homespun charm. Nine pages without text allow Gregory free rein to gorgeously render the pair’s supernatural adventure, followed by a wrap-up to readers in rhyme, nicely capped by McConnell with a gentle wink to Marsipity’s dessert of choice.
Aside from rhythmic bumps in her poetry, McConnell offers a Halloween picture-book adventure to stir the imagination, enhanced by Gregory’s beautifully rendered illustrations.Pub Date: June 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0615300092
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Olive Leaf
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
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Cookie-cutter predictability.
After all the daring escapes in the How To Catch… series, will the kids be able to catch Santa?
Oddly, previous installments saw the children trying (and failing) to catch an elf and a reindeer, but both are easily captured in this story. Santa, however, is slippery. Tempted but not fooled by poinsettias, a good book (attached to a slingshot armed with a teddy bear projectile), and, of course, milk and cookies, Santa foils every plan. The hero in a red suit has a job to do. Presents must be placed, and lists must be checked. He has no time for traps and foolery (except if you’re the elf, who falls for every one of them). Luckily, Santa helps the little rascal escape each time. Little is new here—the kids resort to similar snares found in previous works: netting, lures, and technological wonders such as the Santa Catcher 5000. Although the rhythm falters quite a bit (“How did we get out you ask? / It looked like we were done for. / Santa’s magic is very real, / and I cannot reveal more”), fans of the series may not mind. Santa and Christmas just might be enough to overcome the flaws. Santa and the elf are light-skinned, one of the children is brown-skinned, and the other presents as Asian. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Cookie-cutter predictability. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781728274270
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2023
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