The subtitle for the book is “A Very Confused Christmas,” and many young readers will indeed be confused.
A dozen humorous poems are inspired by Christmas-related words or phrases as a child might mishear them.
The cover and related title poem, “Missile Toe,” focus on a soccer player by that name. He is a boy with brown skin who always leaps too high and misses scoring. This time, he still leaps but gently taps the ball in as the other players “hugged and kissed beneath Missile Toe.” Most of the other poems focus on traditional Christmas songs, with some sort of humorous twist on the title or a line from the song as the poem’s theme, as in the poems “O Holey Knight” and “The Wee Kings of Orientar.” The poem “Deck the Halls” riffs on a phrase that many a child has found mysterious. There is no title page or author’s note to identify the original songs. Most of the poems require a level of background knowledge that is beyond the capacity of the intended audience, and the humor would need to be explained to children. A few poems stand on their own, such as “Johnny Oats Ate Nicholas,” about a puppy named Johnny Oats who eats Nicholas the guppy (though it may take saying the title a few times to understand the sonic confusion), and “I’ll Be a Gnome for Christmas.” Amusing, action-filled illustrations include children of different ethnicities. Santa is white; the Wise Men have brown skin.
The subtitle for the book is “A Very Confused Christmas,” and many young readers will indeed be confused. (Picture book/poetry. 5-9)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-58536-371-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Some readers may like this retooling a lot. / But new insights into the tale it has not.
A dog’s-eye view of Dr. Seuss’ beloved Yuletide tale.
“On the day before Christmas, / In Who-ville Town Square, / Every Who down in Who-ville / Was gathering there.” Here to give his side of the story via a third-person rhyming narrative is Max, a dog familiar to readers of the original book and/or viewers of the animated TV special based on Seuss’ book. It’s a grand idea: Who wouldn’t want a fresh perspective from Max, the Grinch’s long-suffering but loyal companion? The trouble is that aside from trying to alert little Cindy-Lou Who to the Grinch’s advances, Max doesn’t do anything to hinder the Grinch from robbing the town blind, so this version doesn’t lend any real insight to the story. For some readers, this may raise the question: Why not just stick with the original? While this version’s rhymes aren’t as inventive as the good Dr.’s, Heim does a solid job imitating his style; fans of the Grinch TV special will hear Boris Karloff plummily reciting the text, especially wry lines like “At house after house, while the clocks kept tock-ticking, / Old Max watched the Grinch and his sneaky St. Nick-ing.” Ruiz’s art is a fittingly faithful homage. His palette splits the difference between the 1957 book’s visual sobriety and the 1966 television production’s optical intensity.
Some readers may like this retooling a lot. / But new insights into the tale it has not. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9798217228072
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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