“We wish you a merry Christmas!” sing the bundled-up fox, penguin, rabbit, and other anthropomorphic creatures.
Four verses of the enduring carol are each set on a different double-page spread, all of which involve the little forest friends celebrating the season in one way or another. The board book features sliding panels that build upon the scenes, enabling the adorable critters to sled down a hill or to complete a snowman. The final sliding panel lets little readers guide Santa’s sleigh over the snowy town. The panels are sturdily reinforced, but even so some excited readers may find a way to tear them apart. The illustrations are composed with smiling, rounded faces and a warm color palette that is unsurprising in a Christmastime board book. A QR code for a free version of the song is supplied in the front cover.
A charming version of the classic song. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9612-2
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Nosy Crow/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS | CHILDREN'S POETRY
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The farmyard's chickens experience Halloween.
A round, full moon shines in the sky, and the chickens of Boynton's barnyard are feeling “nervous.” Pumpkins shine “with flickering eyes,” witches and wizards wander the pastures, and one chicken has seen “a mouse of enormous size.” It’s Halloween night, and readers will delight as the chickens huddle together and try to figure out what's going on. All ends well, of course, and in Boynton's trademark silly style. (It’s really quite remarkable how her ranks of white, yellow-beaked chickens evoke rows of candy corn.) At this point parents and children know what they're in for when they pick up a book by the prolific author, and she doesn't disappoint here. The chickens are silly, the pigs are cute, and the coloring and illustrations evoke a warmth that little ones wary of Halloween will appreciate. For children leery of the ghouls and goblins lurking in the holiday's iconography, this is a perfect antidote, emphasizing all the fun Halloween has to offer.
An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7611-9300-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS
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In this board book designed for the littlest llama lovers, adorable-as-ever Llama Llama (Llama Llama Red Pajama, 2005, etc.) gets ready for some Halloween fun.
Dewdney’s characteristic spare, apt rhymes convey a lot of action in effortlessly readable fashion. A charming and simple introduction to Halloween and its associated activities, this title finds little Llama Llama choosing and carving a pumpkin, pouring candy into bowls, picking out a costume and, finally, trick-or-treating. The costume Llama Llama decides to don—pointy teeth and a black mask and cape—is enough to frighten and fool his friends but not readers, who will immediately recognize and smile at the silly little mini-Dracula. With Dewdney’s characters as expressive as ever, young readers will be drawn right into the holiday fun, eagerly anticipating which costume Llama Llama will choose and excited to see him scare his friends and score some candy at trick-or-treat. In the equally appealing companion title, Llama Llama Jingle Bells,the little fellow gets ready for Christmas, baking and decorating some cookies in anticipation of Santa’s arrival. This simple holiday title will win Llama Llama new fans, and old friends will want to add it and its companion to their collections. (Board book. 1-2)
Pub Date: Aug. 19, 2014
ISBN: 978-0451469786
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 25, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS
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