A seaside Christmas tale that emphasizes kindness, understanding, and connection.
In this Italian import, an introverted sea captain plans an unexpected Yuletide party.
Captain Drake lives on a ship beside a charming town overlooking a bay bustling with fishing boats. After a life devoted to leading his crew across the seven seas, the old captain is now alone, aside from his companion squirrel, Skipper. Loneliness has left Captain Drake withdrawn, grouchy, and rude. The town is abuzz with folks preparing for Christmas, reminding the captain how glad he is to spend the holiday on his own. “One less thing to fuss over,” he grouses. But Skipper—all too aware that the captain needs more companionship—leads him to young Matilda, a young girl who also plans to skip Christmas this year. Her mechanic father is working at sea, and suddenly Captain Drake, deeply moved, decides to host a party for the whole town. With the help of Skipper’s animal pals, Captain Drake throws a colorful soiree on Christmas Eve. Tourbillon’s uplifting work celebrates the power of empathy as the whole town comes together as a family. She relies on well-chosen vocabulary to shed light on the less pleasant feelings associated with this time of year. Cerocchi depicts characters with simple faces and black dots, the captain’s expression often obscured by his beard. Scarves, pennant flags, and snowflakes throughout the illustrations give quiet nods to the festive season. Captain Drake and Matilda are pale-skinned; their community is diverse.
A seaside Christmas tale that emphasizes kindness, understanding, and connection. (Picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2026
ISBN: 9798898591625
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
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
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
BOOK REVIEW
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