Sure to steal readers’ hearts.
A punctilious pig’s job as Cupid goes awry.
Cupig, a rotund porcine hero in heart-adorned undies, loves love. She adores it so much that every year on Valentine’s Day, she takes her trusty bow and arrow and helps spread desire. This year, however, the weather affects her aim. Gray swirls of gusty wind blow her arrows astray, causing her to accidentally hit some familiar, well-established couples. “Now Peanut Butter stopped loving Jelly / and fell in love with something smelly.” (The new pair is Peanut Butter and Anchovies.) Poor Jelly is tipped over, leaving a smudge shaped like a broken heart on the counter. “Needle and Thread had been a great team; / now they’re falling apart at the seams.” (Needle has fallen in love with a haystack; Thread is understandably unraveled.) Pair after pair are broken up and matched with new partners. Butterfly falls out of love with the sky and in love with a horse, and Paper’s affections shift from Pen to a polar bear; love knows no bounds. After some reflection, however, Cupig realizes her mistakes and goes off to set things right. Some readers may be slightly uneasy with the implication that romance should blossom only between couples who seem “right” for each other, but it’s mostly just a silly story of classic pairs reuniting. Tattersfield keeps a jaunty pace, and Sayegh’s smiling (and distraught) inanimate objects are a delight.
Sure to steal readers’ hearts. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Dec. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9780593623107
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flamingo Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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