Refugees forced to find a new home—sadly, an always timely subject—deserve better storytelling than this
Polar bears find refuge on a tropical island paradise.
Three polar bear friends find themselves adrift on the “big blue ocean” when their ice-floe home cracks apart. Initially unconcerned, they entertain themselves, but then night comes and they grow worried. Spotting land, they ask the three Holsteins on the island if they can come ashore but are turned away—they are “too bear-ish.” Still at sea, with their bit of ice growing smaller, they encounter another island inhabited by a single panda. The panda does not want them either; the island will be too crowded with three more critters. Tea-drinking giraffes reject their pleas also. At last, they encounter an empty island where they can lounge and play games. And when a boatload of monkeys sails by, the polar bears bid them “WELCOME!” Barroux’s tale is perhaps meant to send a caution about global warming, but the message falls short with the antics of the animals. Finally finding a home after what is supposed to be a catastrophe and then playing ball and sunbathing just does not flow properly. The colorful, full-bleed art features bears and giraffes with stylized, oddly shaped snouts; the panda’s and the monkeys’ faces look startlingly puglike in contrast.
Refugees forced to find a new home—sadly, an always timely subject—deserve better storytelling than this . (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0444-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2016
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground.
A little red sleigh has big Christmas dreams.
Although the detailed, full-color art doesn’t anthropomorphize the protagonist (which readers will likely identify as a sled and not a sleigh), a close third-person text affords the object thoughts and feelings while assigning feminine pronouns. “She longed to become Santa’s big red sleigh,” reads an early line establishing the sleigh’s motivation to leave her Christmas-shop home for the North Pole. Other toys discourage her, but she perseveres despite creeping self-doubt. A train and truck help the sleigh along, and when she wishes she were big, fast, and powerful like them, they offer encouragement and counsel patience. When a storm descends after the sleigh strikes out on her own, an unnamed girl playing in the snow brings her to a group of children who all take turns riding the sleigh down a hill. When the girl brings her home, the sleigh is crestfallen she didn’t reach the North Pole. A convoluted happily-ever-after ending shows a note from Santa that thanks the sleigh for giving children joy and invites her to the North Pole next year. “At last she understood what she was meant to do. She would build her life up spreading joy, one child at a time.” Will she leave the girl’s house to be gifted to other children? Will she stay and somehow also reach ever more children? Readers will be left wondering. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 31.8% of actual size.)
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-72822-355-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
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