Speaking to heart and eye in equal measures, a beautiful treatise on remembering life and helping those left behind.
The twin desires to mourn and to comfort imbue a simple fable played out by a woodland cast.
Though Fox is eager for rest after a long night of hunting, his curiosity is piqued when he hears the birds singing a strange new song. He follows them to a dead bird in a field. Fox’s confusion attracts the attention of Moth, who finds it difficult to explain what has happened to the bird. Instead, Moth tells Fox how the moon reflects the sun’s rays, even long after the sun has gone. Fox struggles to understand until Moth explains that the bird is dead. “I was trying to be kind,” Moth tells Fox. “Sad things are hard to hear. They are pretty hard to say, too. They should be told in little pieces.” As Fox grapples with the newfound realization, Moth offers solace if not the explanation he was seeking. Mountford does dual duty in giving voice to both the confusion that comes with death and a template on how to be there for those in pain. Tonally, the book never turns precious, the storytelling clear, concise, and sympathetic. All this is wonderfully accompanied by digital art resembling woodcuts and lithographs, the black of the fox, the birds, and the moth contrasting keenly with the colors of the natural world surrounding them. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Speaking to heart and eye in equal measures, a beautiful treatise on remembering life and helping those left behind. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5362-2498-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick Studio
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
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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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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