A kid-friendly demonstration of how we can all make the world a more loving place.
A youngster spreads love throughout the community.
The tan-skinned narrator makes tiny paper hearts. “The hearts don’t say ‘I love you,’” explains the protagonist, “but, kind of, they do—when you share them.” The child gives the hearts to friends, family, and neighbors while finding other ways to show love: drawing a picture of a cat for a pal, delivering cookies to a neighbor, and reading a story to a younger sibling. With the paper hearts now all gone, the child comes to an important realization: “I find love everywhere, being shared in a hundred different ways from hearts of all shapes and sizes.” Cotterill’s illustrations—hand-built sets that were then photographed—bring the narrative to life, giving it a three-dimensional, textured feel. The child’s handful of paper hearts pop off the page, while the bag of cookies looks real enough to hold. Movement and depth are so effectively conveyed that some images feel like video stills. This moving story will empower children to find ways to positively influence their own communities. The acts of service are practical and realistic, making this a perfect tale to share with preschoolers and early elementary school students. In her author’s note, Vickers discusses how she drew inspiration from an activity she implemented years ago at children’s classes at her church. People depicted vary in terms of skin tone and ability.
A kid-friendly demonstration of how we can all make the world a more loving place. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781665929769
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2024
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
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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
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