What happens when you turn four party-bound girlfriends loose in the Shoe-la-la boutique? “Emily, Ashley, Kaitlyn, Claire! / Let’s go find the perfect pair!” And so begins the search. Beaumont introduces readers to an almost infinite variety of shoes—buckled, bowed, tap, laced, rainbow-striped, leopard-spotted, sandals, boots, shoes for cowgirls and rock stars—in rhyming verses that sometimes falter in the rhythm. In the end, the indecisive foursome leave the store empty-handed, a mountain of shoes and an exhausted shoe salesman in their wake. Once home, the creative juices start to flow, and they embellish their shoes with bows, feathers and glue to fashion their own unique styles. Pham’s multicultural cast of characters is highly imaginative. Each girl has her own sense of both self and style, and while all are little girls, they definitely have a touch of glamour about them. Though lacking the more detailed story lines of the Fancy Nancy series, this outing, with its glitzy cover, is likely to appeal to her fans as well as to the creative side in every budding shoe connoisseur. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-545-06705-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2010
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Ai ya—not the happiest New Year tale.
A little girl in Shanghai outwits a Lunar New Year monster.
Xingling is grocery shopping with her grandmother days before the Chinese New Year festivities are to begin. Curious about all the red decorations, she learns that once upon a time there was a very hungry monster who threatened villages. The monster, fortunately, had three fears—“loud sounds, fire, and the color red”—and the Chinese learned how to keep safe from it. Unfortunately, the monster, named Nian, soon appears in Shanghai very hungry and very unperturbed by ancient customs. Xingling cleverly finds three new, traditional means to defeat Nian: a bowl containing “the longest noodle in China” (which sends him snoozing), bony milkfish (which hurts his throat), and a rice cake made with very sticky rice (which glues his jaws together). Wang brings together traditional storytelling elements in her tale—three tasks and repetition of phrases—in this contemporary setting of a Chinese New Year story. However, the writing is pedestrian and will not hold up to multiple readings. The explanation that “nian” means either “year” or “sticky” comes only in the author’s note. Chau’s artwork is colorful but very busy; Xingling is drawn with giant, manga-style eyes, though the other Chinese characters have simple ink-dot eyes. Also, there is no mention of which year of the 12-year cycle is being celebrated.
Ai ya—not the happiest New Year tale. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8075-5642-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2016
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