Energetic text and zesty images make for a cheerful family celebration worth shouting about.
Every year Alaine and her parents join relatives from near and far for the Broussard-Bouchard family reunion.
They’ll be staying with Great-Aunt Belle and Great-Aunt Charmaine and their cat, Big Boy. Despite her great-aunts’ warning, Alaine inadvertently lets the cat out—a mistake that threatens to dampen her joy as reunion preparations get underway. Isolating herself on a nearby bench, Alaine watches as family members play dominoes, jump double Dutch, and gather food. Finally, the highlight of the day begins: a round of zydeco music. Some play their instruments, while others dance. When her parents invite her to dance, she forgets all about Big Boy. The unique zydeco music, with its roots in African American and Louisiana Creole tradition, is the heartbeat of this loving Black family’s gathering. As people disperse, Alaine and her parents return to Great-Aunt Belle and Great-Aunt Charmaine’s house and find the cat she’s been so worried about on the front porch. With much relief, she settles down for the night as their event-filled day concludes. This simple family story is rich in specific cultural detail that enlivens the narrative. Alaine’s concern over her mistake with the cat adds just enough tension to engage younger readers. Barber-Opp adds lively, beautifully flowing art rendered in watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil. The author’s note provides useful information about the special heritage and nature of zydeco music.
Energetic text and zesty images make for a cheerful family celebration worth shouting about. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 19, 2026
ISBN: 9781536220384
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026
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
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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