A welcome and cozy take on the Hanukkah story.
A mother’s advice saves the day.
The five Maccabee brothers and their parents (all brown-skinned) live in Modi’in. Several times a year the men travel to Jerusalem’s Holy Temple. Before departing, the brothers ask Mom for help finding items like a cloak or a scroll. Mom always knows where the article is but prefaces her reveal with a maxim: “Cloaks” (or scrolls) “don’t grow legs and walk away. Where you leave them is where they stay.” When the Maccabee men aren’t in the Temple, they’re studying and teaching Torah, expressly forbidden after Greek King Antiochus conquers Israel. The Jews fight their oppressors and, miraculously, defeat them. After the final battle, the Maccabees enter the ruined Temple, seeking a jug of oil to light the great menorah. Unsurprisingly, they can’t find it—but, recalling their mother’s pithy advice, they finally locate it. There’s enough oil for one day, but the flames burn for eight. Thereafter, whenever Mrs. Maccabee recounts the events, she mentions the Maccabees found the oil—without her help. This is a humorous, very simple approach to the traditional Hanukkah story. Not only is the Maccabees’ bravery on display, but the book also offers a homey reminder that the holiday is about family, too. The colorful illustrations are warm and bright, and readers will easily spot the items Mrs. Maccabee uncovers for her sons. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A welcome and cozy take on the Hanukkah story. (more information on the story of Hanukkah) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9781728477916
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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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