Well-meant but heavy-handed.
A Pennsylvania Dutch folk tale about the origin of the robin’s red breast is woven into a story of a girl and her grandmother preparing for Easter together.
This interpretation offers new illustrations for a work that was originally published as The Story of the Easter Robin and illustrated by Anna Vojtech (2010). The cheery, new cover shows a little blonde white girl and her appealing dog gazing out a window at a robin’s nest with five eggs (though the text clearly specifies four eggs). Tressa and her grandmother watch as a pair of robins builds a nest right outside their window in the days before Easter. Tressa worries about the safety of the eggs, and her grandmother reassures her repeatedly that God will take care of the robins. They make bird decorations from dyed eggs, and Gran tells Tressa a legend about robins and why their breasts are red. At the crucifixion of Jesus, a robin pulled a thorn out of Jesus’ forehead, and a drop of blood stained the bird’s breast. The illustrations of the girl and the grandmother are cheerful and contemporary, but the depictions of the robin at the crucifixion shift to a dark sepia palette with frightening overtones. Jesus is shown carrying the cross, wearing the crown of thorns, and a menacing hand with a whip strikes out at both Jesus and the robin. (Birders will quibble that the robin depicted in the crucifixion story is American, a geographical impossibility.) The relatively lengthy text veers from chipper to lugubrious, with a preachy tone overall.
Well-meant but heavy-handed. (author’s note) (Religion/picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-310-74964-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience.
The How to Catch A… crew try for Comet.
Having already failed to nab a Halloween witch, the Easter Bunny, a turkey, a leprechaun, the Tooth Fairy, and over a dozen other iconic trophies in previous episodes of this bestselling series, one would think the racially diverse gaggle of children in Elkerton’s moonlit, wintry scenes would be flagging…but no, here they lay out snares ranging from a loop of garland to an igloo baited with reindeer moss to an enticing candy cane maze, all in hopes of snagging one of Santa’s reindeer while he’s busy delivering presents. Infused with pop culture–based Christmas cheer (“Now I’ve already seen the shelf with the elf”), Comet prances past the traps until it’s time to gather up the kids, most of whom look terrified, for a group snapshot with the other reindeer and then climb back into harness: “This was a great stop but a few million to go / Christmas Eve must continue with style!” Though festive, the verse feels trite and unlikely to entice youngsters. A sprinkling of “True Facts About Reindeer” (“They live in the tundra, where they have friends like the arctic bunny”) wrap up this celebration of the predatory spirit. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 9781728276137
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2022
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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