Pasquali’s talents deserve better than this erratically applied gimmick.
Santa Claus makes a few deliveries on Christmas Eve.
In droll double-page paintings, which look to be acrylics in rich, warm colors, a cheerful Santa flies his sleigh and whooshes down the chimney. Each page is embedded with a “finger-trail” (created by cutting out the top portion of the page to make an indentation and reveal a layer of patterned paper underneath) for little ones to trace the path of Santa’s flying sleigh or the reindeers’ footprints in the snow. Out of all Pasquali’s books that use the finger-trail gimmick, this one is the most effective, and the colorful touch-and-feel elements lend themselves to Santa’s annual nocturnal journey. Unfortunately, not all of the footprints have been cut away, resulting in a frustrating inconsistency for an audience that can least tolerate it. The workmanlike prose describes the scenes, while action and onomatopoeic words (“plod,” “whoosh” and “tip-toe”) accompany the finger-trail feature.
Pasquali’s talents deserve better than this erratically applied gimmick. (Board book. 18 mo.-3)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7459-6242-9
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Trafalgar Square
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2013
An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver.
The farmyard's chickens experience Halloween.
A round, full moon shines in the sky, and the chickens of Boynton's barnyard are feeling “nervous.” Pumpkins shine “with flickering eyes,” witches and wizards wander the pastures, and one chicken has seen “a mouse of enormous size.” It’s Halloween night, and readers will delight as the chickens huddle together and try to figure out what's going on. All ends well, of course, and in Boynton's trademark silly style. (It’s really quite remarkable how her ranks of white, yellow-beaked chickens evoke rows of candy corn.) At this point parents and children know what they're in for when they pick up a book by the prolific author, and she doesn't disappoint here. The chickens are silly, the pigs are cute, and the coloring and illustrations evoke a warmth that little ones wary of Halloween will appreciate. For children leery of the ghouls and goblins lurking in the holiday's iconography, this is a perfect antidote, emphasizing all the fun Halloween has to offer.
An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7611-9300-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Predictable text, a slight storyline, and cutouts that toddlers will use to turn the pages make this an acceptable...
Six bug-eyed, smiling iconic Halloween characters are startled by mysterious shouts of “Boo!” but little ones won't be fazed.
Beginning with “Night owl, night owl, was that you? / Were you the one who shouted BOO?” the same question is repeated on each page, substituting the name of the Halloween symbol pictured. Young readers will soon know the response: “It wasn't me!” The eyes of the owl, cat, pumpkin, witch, spider, and wizard are nesting, die-cut holes of decreasing size. The character from the previous page is included on each double-page spread, providing visual continuity. The next-to-last spread shows all six characters worriedly asking, “Who's hiding out there in the night?” The final page turn reveals the obvious answer: “It's a ghost!” The placement of the word “Boo” changes on each page, which may confuse toddlers who learn to anticipate text through its consistent appearance. Despite the bright, almost garish illustrations in purple, black, orange, green, blue, and pink, the perennially smiling characters are static and flat; both witch and wizard are Caucasian.
Predictable text, a slight storyline, and cutouts that toddlers will use to turn the pages make this an acceptable introduction to the fun of Halloween. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-68010-501-8
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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