Ho-ho-ho’s from the goo-goo-gah-ers.
Silly Mustache Baby (and Santa Baby) holiday fun.
In this fourth book about Mustache Baby (aka Baby Billy), his pal Baby Javier transforms into Santa Baby when his facial hair (he was born with a full beard) turns white. This makes him “Santa’s #1 helper, Santa Baby!” Wanting to get in on the action, Baby Billy offers to help by making toys. Unfortunately, he likes his creations so much that he ends up hoarding them and earning a spot on the naughty list. His mustache transforms into a handlebar-style, or “BAD GUY MUSTACHE”—a somewhat fuller version of the one Snidely Whiplash sports in Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons. Santa Baby is so angry at his friend’s greed that his beard turns into a “MAD GUY BEARD,” and he “saddle[s] up the reindeer” (depicted as dachshunds) to pursue Baby Billy and recover the treats he’s stolen. A misaimed snowball hits one of the “reindeer,” which prompts the pair of babies to reconcile and care for the pup. Santa Grownup sees their compassionate deeds and rewards them with a trip in his sleigh “to help deliver presents all over the world”—but only after twice checking his list to find that “Billy had made it onto the nice list by a hair!” of course. Throughout, readers are gifted with other examples of wordplay and with comical details in the digital art. Illustrations depict Baby Billy and Santa Grownup as white; Baby Javier is presumably Latinx.
Ho-ho-ho’s from the goo-goo-gah-ers. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-328-50653-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
Effectively captures the excitement surrounding Valentine’s Day.
A collection of poems follows a group of elementary school students as they prepare for and celebrate Valentine’s Day.
One student starts the day by carefully choosing clothing in pink, purple, or red, while a family kicks off the morning with a breakfast of red, heart-shaped pancakes. At school, children create valentines until party time finally arrives with lots of yummy treats. The students give valentines to their school friends, of course, but we also see one child making a “special delivery” to a pet, a stuffed animal, family members, and even the crossing guard. The poems also extend the Valentine’s celebration to the community park, where other couples—some older, one that appears to be same-sex—are struck by cupid’s “magical love arrows.” Note the child running away: “Blech!” Not everyone wants to “end up in love!!!” But the spread devoted to Valentine’s jokes will please readers more interested in humor than in romance and inspire children to create their own jokes. To make the celebration complete, the last pages of the book contain stickers and a double-sided “BEE MINE!” valentine that readers can, with adult help, cut out. Cheery and kid-friendly, the poems can be read independently or from cover to cover as a full story. The cartoonish illustrations include lots of hearts and emphasize the growing Valentine’s Day excitement, depicting a diverse classroom that includes students who use wheelchairs. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Effectively captures the excitement surrounding Valentine’s Day. (Picture-book poetry. 4-6)Pub Date: Dec. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-38717-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Readers will delight in discovering the joyous time pumpkins have when it’s Halloween.
Magical moonbeams awaken a pumpkin patch to raucous Halloween-season revelry.
A moonbeam illuminates and energizes a smiley-faced pumpkin sitting alone on a stair; it promptly takes off to find a friend with whom to have a good time. An entire pumpkin patch, also sparked by the magical moon, instantly comes alive. And what merriment all the grinning gourds get up to! Their playful shenanigans include piling high on top of one another, bouncing on a trampoline, dancing, marching, and drumming, wearing costumes, and competing in games. They even engage in activities usually reserved for other holiday-themed icons—flying on brooms and making magic, for instance. As dawn approaches, the pumpkin leader escorts the cavalcade back home. At sunrise, each one takes up residence on a different house’s front porch and awaits that evening’s moonbeams to work their magic again. Liveliness and good cheer abound in this frisky rhyming tale in which the perennial holiday symbols naturally take center stage. Perky couplets that read and scan very well appear on most pages and are accompanied by energetic, expressive illustrations that highlight vivid oranges, yellows, blues, purples, and greens with touches of other bright shades.
Readers will delight in discovering the joyous time pumpkins have when it’s Halloween. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-338-56332-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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