An appealing holiday confection from a sturdy brand.
In John and Oswald’s latest in their food-centric series, the Big Cheese throws fabulous Christmas celebrations each year—until a household catastrophe on party day requires a friend’s help.
The Big Cheese hosts great shindigs and isn’t afraid to brag about them, from the splendid decor and scintillating party patter to the unmatched gifts and eye-popping surprises. One annual party eclipses the next…until this year. Mid-preparation, strange noises begin emanating from the Big Cheese’s washing machine, which floods the house, short-circuiting the electricity. What will become of the party now? Frantic, the protagonist calls Wedge Wedgeman, a modest, practical friend who’s happy to host instead. The gathering at Wedge’s is cozy, understated, and fun; friends converse, eating chili and sipping cocoa. A phonograph plays music, a fire crackles, and the evening ends with a group photo. Everyone leaves with a holiday card from Wedge (in contrast with the Big Cheese’s over-the-top gift bags). The Big Cheese and Wedge share a high-five, a hug, and ideas about co-hosting next year. Walking home, the Big Cheese realizes that Christmas is simply about sharing time, music, and food with friends. Naturally, though, the Big Cheese reserves rights to future extravaganzas: “Hey, it’s not like my personality changed in a day.” John captures his hero’s endearingly braggadocious voice, while Oswald delivers cheerful cartoons, comically telegraphing the Big Cheese’s gazillion emotional states.
An appealing holiday confection from a sturdy brand. (holiday cards) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9780063437869
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
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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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
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