Fans of The Tub People (1989) will welcome their return for a third gnomic drama. Arrayed before the fireplace, the extended wooden family is scattered when Someone comes down the chimney, bringing gifts and a small evergreen. Gathered up and placed in a deep pocket, the tiny figurines grow more and more anxious as they are removed one by one, to be reunited in the end as ornaments hung on a magnificent Christmas tree. Wrapping the tale with pleasant-looking angels, Egielski brings readers to a toy’s-eye-view with skillful close-ups, then pulls back for full-page portraits of Santa and the entire tree; as ever, the Tub People’s abbreviated gestures and subtle changes of expression are wonderfully affecting. An intimate alternative for those too young (or disinclined) to board The Polar Express. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Oct. 31, 1999
ISBN: 0-06-026028-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1999
Night-Time Numbers (32 pp.; $15.95; Aug.; 1-84148-001-0) What creepy-crawlies lurk in the dark? As a mother and child move through the familiar routine of getting ready for bed, she asks, “who can you see?” and listens carefully to the child’s responses, which include monsters, dragons, witches, wolves, ghosts, and ghouls. Vibrant collage illustrations in a wide variety of textures complement the short rhyming text, and culminate in a golden yellow scene showing an angel watching over the sleeping child, who, having named her fears, can now sleep soundly. (Picture book. 2-6)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 1-84148-001-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1999
Mouse’s First Christmas (32 pp.; $12.00; Oct. 1; 0-689-82325-8) Arriving in the snowy avalanche of holiday titles, this book begins with a bit of rhymed play on the beginning of Clement Moore’s poem, as Mouse investigates something “sweet and sparkly,” a cookie, “warm and melty” hot cocoa, and so on through candy, bells, angels, candles, presents, the tree, and finally, Santa himself. The language is either twee or pedestrian, and doesn’t really engage readers or onlookers in Mouse’s mission. The illustrations are done in thick holiday pigments: reds, greens, blues, and golds; the typeface is occasionally treated playfully. Insubstantial but wrapped prettily. (Picture book. 2-6)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-689-82325-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1999
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