A moving story infused with the spirit of New Orleans that sounds a note of creative hope for the city’s future.
Price drums up a toe-tapping, finger-snapping tale of resilience in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Lala, the young African American narrator, begins the story with a haunting memory of the hurricane’s wrath: “Wind threw Water into Sky, / snatched the Blue out. / Blue spluttered, then died” and “the levees cried.” Forced to leave their home, Lala’s family now lives in her aunt’s shotgun house, and everything has changed. Lala’s work-weary father hasn’t played his horn since the storm, and her Mamma—once the best dancer in New Orleans—is perpetually cross and forbids music-making. Worst of all, Mamma has decided they won’t be participating in the Mardi Gras festivities this year; but Lala is determined to celebrate the holiday in her own way. When her brother surprises everyone by playing a trumpet solo and Mamma finally smiles after Pop-Pop presents her with a Mardi Gras gift of flowers, it’s on! The family ventures out into streets filled with brass bands, revelers, and vendors, and they find a renewed sense of hope to help them face the future. Price’s lyrical text paints a rich picture of New Orleans and becomes downright musical as the story progresses. Williams’ stunning mixed-media illustrations incorporate colorful geometric abstraction, including concentric circles representing the sun, bursts of musical sound, and halos around the characters’ heads. Aside from one or two background figures, all characters are Black.
A moving story infused with the spirit of New Orleans that sounds a note of creative hope for the city’s future. (author's note, glossary) (Picture book. 4-10)Pub Date: Feb. 22, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5344-4425-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 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
BOOK REVIEW
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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
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