Train-loving tots may fancy this Christmas ride all year long.
Five cars of holiday fun and snowy scenery—now if only Santa can find his boot!
This delightful, non-narrative excursion unfolds—literally—in a sturdy volume that extends into a yuletide train over 4 feet long. As with Mara and Kolb’s first rail outing, All Aboard! (2017), once the concertina pages are folded out, each one is a unique car on the train, with the exterior of each lifting up to reveal the goings-on within. Die-cut windows, bright colors, holiday decor, elves, toys, penguins, pies, and Santa Claus make this a visually engaging read for those Christmas celebrants among the preschooler set. As the gingerbread engineer drives the train, Santa goes searching for his missing boot, which takes him through every car on the train. Questions and activities accompany each scene: “Can you find two snowflakes that match?” “Can you find a toy that zooms? One that spins?” Reversing the extended pages, meanwhile, reveals the snow-covered countryside past which the train is chugging, with skiers to count, snowmen to spot, hills, houses, and water. With so much to see, seek, and answer, this book has a ton of interactive appeal. The cartoonish illustrations are charming and rich in detail, and they are rendered in a lush, pleasing palette with a refreshingly brown-skinned Santa as the star.
Train-loving tots may fancy this Christmas ride all year long. (Board book. 2-6)Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3295-9
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Ideal for any community where children count.
A difficult concept is simply and strikingly illustrated for the very youngest members of any community, with a counting exercise to boot.
From the opening invitation, “Living in community, / it's a lot of FUN! / Lets count the ways. / Lets start with ONE,” Nagaro shows an urban community that is multicultural, supportive, and happy—exactly like the neighborhoods that many families choose to live and raise their children in. Text on every other page rhymes unobtrusively. Unlike the vocabulary found in A Is for Activist (2013), this book’s is entirely age-appropriate (though some parents might not agree that picketing is a way to show “that we care”). In A Is for Activist, a cat was hidden on each page; this time, finding the duck is the game. Counting is almost peripheral to the message. On the page with “Seven bikes and scooters and helmets to share,” identifying toys in an artistic heap is confusing. There is only one helmet for five toys, unless you count the second helmet worn by the girl riding a scooter—but then there are eight items, not seven. Seven helmets and seven toys would have been clearer. That quibble aside, Nagara's graphic design skills are evident, with deep colors, interesting angles, and strong lines, in a mix of digital collage and ink.
Ideal for any community where children count. (Board book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-60980-632-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Triangle Square Books for Young Readers
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
Cookie-cutter predictability.
After all the daring escapes in the How To Catch… series, will the kids be able to catch Santa?
Oddly, previous installments saw the children trying (and failing) to catch an elf and a reindeer, but both are easily captured in this story. Santa, however, is slippery. Tempted but not fooled by poinsettias, a good book (attached to a slingshot armed with a teddy bear projectile), and, of course, milk and cookies, Santa foils every plan. The hero in a red suit has a job to do. Presents must be placed, and lists must be checked. He has no time for traps and foolery (except if you’re the elf, who falls for every one of them). Luckily, Santa helps the little rascal escape each time. Little is new here—the kids resort to similar snares found in previous works: netting, lures, and technological wonders such as the Santa Catcher 5000. Although the rhythm falters quite a bit (“How did we get out you ask? / It looked like we were done for. / Santa’s magic is very real, / and I cannot reveal more”), fans of the series may not mind. Santa and Christmas just might be enough to overcome the flaws. Santa and the elf are light-skinned, one of the children is brown-skinned, and the other presents as Asian. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Cookie-cutter predictability. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781728274270
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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