A madcap Hanukkah celebration for a skillful reader.
Wild beasts arrive to observe the Festival of Lights.
After an opening illustration that suggests that the narrative might be a dream from a slumbering child, a cumulative string of wild animals appears on each night of Hanukkah, starting with a single polar bear and culminating with eight penguins. Rhyming text with largely successful scansion introduces each new species, each of which also brings the necessary components for a Hanukkah party, from latkes to potatoes to flour to dreidels. The rhymes combine with alliteration and onomatopoeia, making for a surreal, aurally lavish read-aloud. Some of the lines may require a practice round, though, with phrases such as “eight pompous, punk-rock penguins / spin dreidels on the floor” feeling a bit like tongue-twisters. Gershman’s painterly illustrations employ multiple angles and floating figures in dynamic poses, heightening the zaniness of the tale. Readers will linger over the wordless spreads that depict tigers, armadillos, and more in a frantic swirl before the animals settle in to hear the child read a story about Hanukkah. Then they depart, leaving the light-skinned family alone as the holiday ends. A note in the backmatter offers a brief explanation of Hanukkah’s Maccabean origins. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A madcap Hanukkah celebration for a skillful reader. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9781728460260
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned.
All the reasons why a daughter needs a mother.
Each spread features an adorable cartoon animal parent-child pair on the recto opposite a rhyming verse: “I’ll always support you in giving your all / in every endeavor, the big and the small, / and be there to catch you in case you should fall. / I hope you believe this is true.” A virtually identical book, Why a Daughter Needs a Dad, publishes simultaneously. Both address standing up for yourself and your values, laughing to ease troubles, being thankful, valuing friendship, persevering and dreaming big, being truthful, thinking through decisions, and being open to differences, among other topics. Though the sentiments/life lessons here and in the companion title are heartfelt and important, there are much better ways to deliver them. These books are likely to go right over children’s heads and developmental levels (especially with the rather advanced vocabulary); their parents are the more likely audience, and for them, the books provide some coaching in what kids need to hear. The two books are largely interchangeable, especially since there are so few references to mom or dad, but one spread in each book reverts to stereotype: Dad balances the two-wheeler, and mom helps with clothing and hair styles. Since the books are separate, it aids in customization for many families.
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned. (Picture book. 4-8, adult)Pub Date: May 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6781-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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