A rousing, artistic celebration of childhood that should appeal to readers of all ages.
A picture book offers poems that depict festivities throughout the year.
Via short poems, Howell cheerfully portrays events children experience during the seasons. Some highlight the weather. In “New Year’s,” the author writes: “Icicles of pointy picks, / Promises of snow that sticks.” Others chronicle holidays like Arbor Day, Thanksgiving, and more. Some poems provide personal interpretations and specific details. For example, in “On Mother’s Day,” the narrator recounts picking out flowers for mom. In “School Play,” the speaker references people by name, “Cardboard cut out wagons, / Boats, and rail cars, too / Are strapped around the shoulders / Of Peter, Jake, and Lou.” The poems connect seamlessly, flowing chronologically from January to December. The author uses clever language and examples kids will relate to. In “Question to Groundhog,” Howell writes: “It spatters down, hits the ground /…sleet is sloppy. / I dropped my homework paper / It made it moist and floppy.” Howell also utilizes poetic devices, including personification, as in “When Labor Day Comes”: “Autumn licks its lips… / Chews a sun ray /…Eating summer / Out of our town.” Abundant in color and texture, Messinger’s wonderful, detailed illustrations feature layered and intricately cut paper accents. The thematic, unique, and detailed portrayals include friendly faces, joyful children, and family gatherings. The outdoor elements, like colorful skylines and mountains, are particularly excellent. The people depicted are of varying ages and skin tones.
A rousing, artistic celebration of childhood that should appeal to readers of all ages.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-950169-34-4
Page Count: 38
Publisher: Spork
Review Posted Online: Nov. 25, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Some readers may like this retooling a lot. / But new insights into the tale it has not.
A dog’s-eye view of Dr. Seuss’ beloved Yuletide tale.
“On the day before Christmas, / In Who-ville Town Square, / Every Who down in Who-ville / Was gathering there.” Here to give his side of the story via a third-person rhyming narrative is Max, a dog familiar to readers of the original book and/or viewers of the animated TV special based on Seuss’ book. It’s a grand idea: Who wouldn’t want a fresh perspective from Max, the Grinch’s long-suffering but loyal companion? The trouble is that aside from trying to alert little Cindy-Lou Who to the Grinch’s advances, Max doesn’t do anything to hinder the Grinch from robbing the town blind, so this version doesn’t lend any real insight to the story. For some readers, this may raise the question: Why not just stick with the original? While this version’s rhymes aren’t as inventive as the good Dr.’s, Heim does a solid job imitating his style; fans of the Grinch TV special will hear Boris Karloff plummily reciting the text, especially wry lines like “At house after house, while the clocks kept tock-ticking, / Old Max watched the Grinch and his sneaky St. Nick-ing.” Ruiz’s art is a fittingly faithful homage. His palette splits the difference between the 1957 book’s visual sobriety and the 1966 television production’s optical intensity.
Some readers may like this retooling a lot. / But new insights into the tale it has not. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9798217228072
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026
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