by Dan Greenburg & illustrated by Warren Miller ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1991
Santa wasn't always a fat old man; here at last is the story of his youth and early career. Born in Sioux City to Sophie and Milton (a door-to-door icebox salesman) and named after Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa initially found life at the North Pole tough sledding: same-day laundry service could take as long as six months. To help pay for a new sleigh powered by eight used but powerful tiny reindeer, he went to work a local toy store, where—after a few false starts (``Sit down on a big chair and [ask] all the little kids to climb up in your lap and tell you what they had for breakfast'')—he was a brilliant success. It's all here: where he got the red outfit, why he didn't shave, how he gathered up all the unemployed elves (there's not much demand for shoes at the Pole) and opened a toy factory, what got him into the delivery business, even the circumstances behind his unorthodox method of entering houses. Miller provides several simply drawn cartoons in black and red. Santa says, ``Merry Christmas to all, and to all- -uh...have a nice day!'' (Fiction. 9-13)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-670-83905-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1991
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More by Dan Greenburg
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by Dan Greenburg ; illustrated by J. Brent Hill
BOOK REVIEW
by Wendy Mass ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2006
Years before he died, Jeremy Fink’s father prepared a box containing “the meaning of life” for his son to open on his 13th birthday. When Jeremy receives the box a few months before that momentous day, the keys are missing, and it’s up to him and his best friend Lizzy to find a way into the box. The search for the keys—or, failing the keys, the meaning of life itself—takes the two throughout New York City and into a spot of trouble, which lands them a very unusual community-service sentence: They must return treasures to the children, now grown, who pawned them long ago. This device brings Jeremy and Lizzy—both originals to the core—into contact with a calculated variety of characters, all of whom have their own unique angles on the meaning of life. Mass spins a leisurely tale that’s occasionally Konigsburg-esque, carefully constructed to give narrator Jeremy ample time to reflect on his encounters. It may be a subplot or two in need of a trim, and the resolution will surprise nobody but Jeremy, but agreeable on the whole. (Fiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-316-05829-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2006
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by Rebecca Stead & Wendy Mass
BOOK REVIEW
by Wendy Mass ; illustrated by Gabi Mendez ; color by Cai Tse
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by Wendy Mass ; illustrated by Oriol Vidal
by Anne Miranda & illustrated by Anne Miranda ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1999
Miranda’s book counts the monsters gathering at a birthday party, while a simple rhyming text keeps the tally and surveys the action: “Seven starved monsters are licking the dishes./Eight blow out candles and make birthday wishes.” The counting proceeds to ten, then by tens to fifty, then gradually returns to one, which makes the monster’s mother, a purple pin-headed octopus, very happy. The book is surprisingly effective due to Powell’s artwork; the color has texture and density, as if it were poured onto the page, but the real attention-getter is the singularity of every monster attendee. They are highly individual and, therefore, eminently countable. As the numbers start crawling upward, it is both fun and a challenge to try to recognize monsters who have appeared in previous pages, or to attempt to stay focused when counting the swirling or bunched creatures. The story has glints of humor, and in combination with the illustrations is a grand addition to the counting shelf. (Picture book. 3-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-201835-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
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by Anne Miranda ; illustrated by Eric Comstock
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by Anne Miranda & illustrated by David Murphy
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by Anne Miranda & illustrated by Janet Stevens
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