by Julie Sykes & illustrated by Tim Warnes ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1998
It’s Christmas time again and Sykes’s noisy, jovial Santa (Shhh!) returns, embarking upon a whole new succession of misadventures. This time, Santa’s troubles begin when his alarm clock does not go off, causing him to oversleep. The race is on to see if he can manage to save Christmas by delivering all his presents by morning. Accompanied by animal friends, and spurred on by their cries of “Hurry, Santa,” the affable but slightly harried old gnome stumbles through several mishaps as he endeavors to get dressed, round up his, and deliver the presents. Children will sympathize with Santa, whose efforts to hurry are frequently misunderstood by the well-meaning animals. When Santa gets scolded by the owl for playing (all he’s done is interrupt the reindeer’s snowball fight), the beleaguered Santa wails, “But I wasn’t playing!” Santa’s fumbles as he hurries through the night are cheerfully brought to life through Warnes’s expressive, lively illustrations; whimsical figures, rich colors, and lighthearted illustrations complement the frenetic tale. The humorous antics of the intrepid Santa make for a wonderfully silly holiday story. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1998
ISBN: 1-888444-37-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1998
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More by Julie Sykes
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by Julie Sykes & illustrated by Melanie Williamson
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by Julie Sykes & illustrated by Tim Warnes
by Drew Daywalt ; illustrated by Oliver Jeffers ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 7, 2023
Let these crayons go back into their box.
The Crayons return to celebrate Easter.
Six crayons (Red, Orange, Yellow, Esteban, who is green and wears a yellow cape, White, and Blue) each take a shape and scribble designs on it. Purple, perplexed and almost angry, keeps asking why no one is creating an egg, but the six friends have a great idea. They take the circle decorated with red shapes, the square adorned with orange squiggles “the color of the sun,” the triangle with yellow designs, also “the color of the sun” (a bit repetitious), a rectangle with green wavy lines, a white star, about which Purple remarks: “DID you even color it?” and a rhombus covered with blue markings and slap the shapes onto a big, light-brown egg. Then the conversation turns to hiding the large object in plain sight. The joke doesn’t really work, the shapes are not clear enough for a concept book, and though colors are delineated, it’s not a very original color book. There’s a bit of clever repartee. When Purple observe that Esteban’s green rectangle isn’t an egg, Esteban responds, “No, but MY GOSH LOOK how magnificent it is!” Still, that won’t save this lackluster book, which barely scratches the surface of Easter, whether secular or religious. The multimedia illustrations, done in the same style as the other series entries, are always fun, but perhaps it’s time to retire these anthropomorphic coloring implements. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Let these crayons go back into their box. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-62105-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
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by Drew Daywalt ; illustrated by Alex Willmore
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by Drew Daywalt ; illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
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by Drew Daywalt ; illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
by John Rox & illustrated by Bruce Whatley ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2005
The words to a Christmas song from the 1950s serve as the text for this exploration of a most unusual Christmas gift. An unnamed little girl in pink pajamas is the first-person narrator, explaining in detail why she wants a hippopotamus as her present. Various views of the hippo are shown in a slightly confusing, nonlinear time sequence, but then why would time proceed in a straightforward fashion with a hippo in the house? Santa is shown pushing the hippo through the door, and the following pages show the little girl caring for her hippo, unwrapping it as a Christmas package (a different packaging treatment is shown on the cover), and then flying off with Santa as the hippo pulls the sleigh. Though the little girl and the words to the song are rather ordinary, the lively, lavender hippo in Whatley’s illustrations is a delightful creature, with a big, pink bow on its head and expressive, bulging eyes. (In fact, that hippo deserves a name and a story of its own.) The music and song lyrics are included in the final spread. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-052942-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2005
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