Rebuses get a text update for a modern love note.
Ehlert combines her iconic cut-paper images of fruits and vegetables with some text-speak to create a rebus story for Valentine’s Day.
The picture-book form and its content don’t mesh all that well, as this describes a romantic love rather than that between two friends or a parent and child. “Do U [carrot] all 4 me? // [peas] give a sign or Q. // [Heart] talks r not EZ, // i [leaf] it up 2u. // But if my plea suc[seeds], // n U say ok, // we could [celery]brate— // N then mayB // r 2 [hearts] //could [beet] as 1 // someday.” Still, there aren’t many children who are not familiar with like sentiments on the ubiquitous seasonal heart-shaped candies, and they will not be able to resist chiming in to name the familiar foods or, if they know their letters and numbers, call out the ones that stand for whole words. Each spread is a different vibrant color that neatly complements the colors of the objects and text on the pages. And the tiny trim size (just under 6 inches square) makes this an intimate book for sharing one-on-one (or an extra-clever valentine for teens and adults to give).
Rebuses get a text update for a modern love note. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-8087-1
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
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
A laugh-inducing Halloween read-along.
The Crayons return in time for Halloween as vampire-costumed Purple coaches the dressed-up wax pack through its first trick-or-treating venture.
It takes five houses’ worth of door-knocks for this skeleton crew of seven to perfect the protocol, with enough outlandish flubs to generate giggles in Halloween-savvy preschoolers. At Door No. 1, Orange, dressed as a jack-o’-lantern, says, “Give us your candy, Lady.” At the next, the gang, encouraged by Purple to “think holiday,” responds with an impressive array of misguided greetings, including “Merry Christmas!” and “Happy American Cheese Month!” Later, White, levitating impressively in a ghost costume, overreacts to Halloween’s “scary” aspect by overwhelming residents with a “BOO!” Peach, unnamed here but recognizably wrapperless from the initial title, exuberantly (and inappropriately) repeats, “I’m naked!” Finally, the troupe perfects its treat-inducing line, though a certain ghost cannot resist an ad lib. This excursion, like many of the holiday-themed Crayon books, has a smaller trim size, a lower price point, and far less complexity than Daywalt and Jeffers’ first two Crayon titles. Still, the pair deftly let young children in on the jokes through funny, hand-lettered dialogue and the visually telegraphed, all-in haplessness of this well-branded band. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A laugh-inducing Halloween read-along. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-62102-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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