A pretty, if also pretty bland, commemoration.
A young boy’s way is lit by LED streetlights and stars as he walks home through snowy scenes on Christmas Eve.
The five white lights, which don’t “twinkle” as advertised but are very bright, are revealed one at a time through small die-cut holes as the lad carries a wrapped gift past pastel shops (this is a fairly commercialized version of the holiday) and houses, a fair, carolers, a pond where “skaters form a whirling swirl / of pink-cheeked boys and giggling girls,” and so home to hang one more shining star on his tree. The text accompanying this action implies that he takes the star out of the box he’s been carrying, but the box remains wrapped in the illustration, and his stiff-armed pose will have many readers wondering exactly what he’s doing. The boy and most of the figures in Gildersleeve’s neatly composed cut-paper collages are white, but the carolers include three with diverse shades of brown skin, and among the skaters is a biracial couple holding a child’s hands. A tiny switch turns the lights on and off, and the batteries are replaceable. Aside from the tree, silhouetted steeples in the background are the only hint that the holiday has a religious significance too.
A pretty, if also pretty bland, commemoration. (Novelty. 5-7)Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-78603-030-6
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions
Review Posted Online: Oct. 9, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2017
As vivid a demonstration of community as readers are likely to find.
Charity and caring for others—the Jewish concept of “tzedakah”—comes full circle in the story of a big sister who demonstrates generosity to a younger sibling through community outreach.
After she learns about tzedakah at the community center, Dalia comes home and creates a tzedakah box to begin saving for the center’s project. She inserts a dollar from her birthday money and tells her curious little brother, Yossi, that the box holds “a big yellow comforter.” With each new donation to the box earned from her gardening chores and lemonade sales, Dalia adds a butterfly bush and a banana cream pie. Yossi’s confusion grows; how can these things fit in what is essentially a piggy bank? Dalia kindly explains how her money, pooled with the other center participants’, will eventually buy all three for a lonely, homebound elderly woman. In joining his sister, Yossi learns that “Tzedakah means… doing the right things. It means thinking of others and giving them what they need.” Dressen-McQueen’s fully developed summer scenes in acrylic and oil pastel provide a vivid complement to the often–page-filling text, their naive, folk quality bringing great quantities of love and warmth to the tale.
As vivid a demonstration of community as readers are likely to find. (author’s note) (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58246-378-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tricycle
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
Frog and friends are a delightful group—entertaining, charming, and funny. Just the sort of friends anyone is glad to have.
Frog and his animal pals celebrate the winter holidays in this latest in Bunting’s early-reader series.
In the Thanksgiving story, Frog and his regular crew of friends invite a host of additional critters to join them, from crickets to a hippo. Some animals are afraid of being eaten by others, but Frog calms them all down, and they share their dinner in peace. The Christmas story finds Frog and his friends cooperating in decorating a tree and sharing sweet treats. On New Year’s Eve, the animals celebrate with games and a nap under the stars. The stories are quietly entertaining and cleverly humorous with solid plots, subtle lessons, and a cozy sense of community among the group of friends. Bunting’s polished prose is several levels above most early readers, particularly in Frog’s calm leadership and in the understated humor. Charming illustrations are thoughtfully integrated with the text, including lots of spot illustrations as well as some full-page views. Just like the Frog and Toad series, these stories work well as early readers but are also strong enough to succeed as read-alouds for younger children too.
Frog and friends are a delightful group—entertaining, charming, and funny. Just the sort of friends anyone is glad to have. (Early reader. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-58536-897-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2015
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