A pleasant Christmas fable.
An elderly Alaskan man meets a beautiful kitten who’s also Santa Claus’ friend in this picture book.
On a quiet, snowy December day, the narrator, a white-haired old man, opens his front door to find a white kitten waiting. How did it get to the isolated Alaskan cabin? Is it a Christmas present? The new arrival struts in, makes itself at home, and takes a nap. The blue-eyed kitten “had come out of the blue on a blue-gray day, so I named him Blue,” says the narrator. The two become fast friends, playing and cuddling together. The man takes Blue to an annual sled-dog race, but his dogs don’t show up. Impossibly, Blue begins pulling the sled faster than any canine could. Eskimo children are amazed by the kitten. Then an encounter with Santa reveals that Blue belongs to him and that he needs the feline to help deliver presents. In this book, Baer (Clueless in Cajun Country, 2017) offers a sweet story of friendship and love with a Christmas theme that also honors a cat’s personality; for example, only Blue gets to decide which white-haired old man he’ll stay with. Illustrator Gentry (The Cajun Cornbread Boy and the Buttermilk Biscuit Girl, 2017, etc.) nicely captures the characters’ warmth and appeal in watercolors throughout.
A pleasant Christmas fable.Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-976327-20-9
Page Count: 29
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
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Beloved Little Blue takes a bit of the mystery—and fear—out of Halloween costumes.
A lift-the-flap book gives the littlest trick-or-treaters some practice identifying partygoers under their costumes.
Little Blue Truck and his buddy Toad are off to a party, and they invite readers (and a black cat) along for the ride: “ ‘Beep! Beep! Beep!’ / says Little Blue. / ‘It’s Halloween!’ / You come, too.” As they drive, they are surprised (and joined) by many of their friends in costume. “Who’s that in a tutu / striking a pose / up on the tiniest / tips of her toes? / Under the mask / who do you see?” Lifting the flap unmasks a friend: “ ‘Quack!’ says the duck. / ‘It’s me! It’s me!’ ” The sheep is disguised as a clown, the cow’s a queen, the pig’s a witch, the hen and her chick are pirates, and the horse is a dragon. Not to be left out, Little Blue has a costume, too. The flaps are large and sturdy, and enough of the animals’ characteristic features are visible under and around the costumes that little ones will be able to make successful guesses even on the first reading. Lovely curvy shapes and autumn colors fade to dusky blues as night falls, and children are sure to notice the traditional elements of a Halloween party: apple bobbing, lit jack-o’-lanterns, and punch and treats.
Beloved Little Blue takes a bit of the mystery—and fear—out of Halloween costumes. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: July 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-544-77253-3
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
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