A cozy, read-aloud holiday treat for children.
It’s Christmas Eve, and all through the house, the mice are indeed stirring, whipping up candy treats as Santa’s secret helpers.
The 19th-century poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” inspired this whimsical debut picture book, but, according to Meyer, the holiday classic got it wrong. When a dad—reading the poem to his children on Christmas Eve—comes to “not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse,” little Max, eavesdropping from a hole in the wall, is a bit indignant. Christmas Eve is the busiest night of all for Max and the rest of the Mouse family, living unseen behind the house’s walls. Part of Santa’s “secret team,” they are “stirring and mixing and cooking and baking” goodies to help fill the white family’s Christmas stockings. Meyer’s gentle fantasy is well-crafted and homey, inviting the book’s target audience into a snug kitchen where Mama Mouse makes sugarplums and Max and sister Molly stretch warm candy “’til it turned white as Santa’s beard.” The author’s playful touches include “magic mouse ladders” that enable the rodents to reach the mantel and turn into slides so they can “whoooooooosh” back down and a little spider character for children to track in each illustration. Kindly Santa Claus and Meyer’s end-of-book, mousecentric rewrite of the famous poem contribute to the tale’s overall warmth. Soft hues and appealing details add a sweet dream vibe in Saumell (Luna the Unicorn, 2017, etc.) and Papeo’s (Jack’s Favourite Things, 2010, etc.) full-bleed images. They alternate with pages of clear black text centered against a gold background bordered by a snowflake design.
A cozy, read-aloud holiday treat for children.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-9827943-4-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: The Beckham Publications Group
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Halloween is used merely as a backdrop; better holiday titles for young readers are available.
A ghost learns to appreciate his differences.
The little ghost protagonist of this title is unusual. He’s a quilt, not a lightweight sheet like his parents and friends. He dislikes being different despite his mom’s reassurance that his ancestors also had unconventional appearances. Halloween makes the little ghost happy, though. He decides to watch trick-or-treaters by draping over a porch chair—but lands on a porch rail instead. A mom accompanying her daughter picks him up, wraps him around her chilly daughter, and brings him home with them! The family likes his looks and comforting warmth, and the little ghost immediately feels better about himself. As soon as he’s able to, he flies out through the chimney and muses happily that this adventure happened only due to his being a quilt. This odd but gently told story conveys the importance of self-respect and acceptance of one’s uniqueness. The delivery of this positive message has something of a heavy-handed feel and is rushed besides. It also isn’t entirely logical: The protagonist could have been a different type of covering; a blanket, for instance, might have enjoyed an identical experience. The soft, pleasing illustrations’ palette of tans, grays, white, black, some touches of color, and, occasionally, white text against black backgrounds suggest isolation, such as the ghost feels about himself. Most humans, including the trick-or-treating mom and daughter, have beige skin. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-16.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 66.2% of actual size.)
Halloween is used merely as a backdrop; better holiday titles for young readers are available. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-7352-6447-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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