Irresistible fun with one rowdy raccoon.
Catsitting should be no problem for Granny, right?
When a White-presenting family leaves for a one-night camping trip, Granny assures them she won’t have any trouble watching Satsuki the cat. After all, there is an instruction sheet for caring for little Satsuki taped to the refrigerator: “Very sweet! Loves to be brushed. Picky eater. Please don’t let the cat out.” When the cat spies a raccoon through the window, it jumps off of the refrigerator in fright, knocking Granny’s glasses off of her face and under the fridge. Bereft of her spectacles, Granny can barely see a thing and mistakes the raccoon for an escaped Satsuki. Granny coaxes “Kitty” inside with some cat food; meanwhile, the real Satsuki slips outside. Kitty loves the bowl of kibble Granny offers as well as the cupcakes she makes but not so much the bath that follows. Granny tires herself out keeping Kitty under control, and when she goes to bed, the raccoon goes wild, wreaking havoc throughout the house. In the morning, glassesless Granny can’t see the mess, and when the family returns, she rushes off before they can apprehend the disaster, relieved to get away from the exhausting “cat.” Jordan-Glum’s tale of mistaken pet identity will elicit giggles. The text is spare, narrated using crisp sentences, while the acrylic, watercolor, and pencil spot art and full-bleed illustrations do the heavy lifting and inspire all the laughs. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Irresistible fun with one rowdy raccoon. (Picture book. 2-7)Pub Date: April 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-76804-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A forgettable effort that fails to capture any of the magical charm of Santa’s story. (Picture book. 3-6)
Wallace and Elkerton continue their series about catching elusive mythical creatures (How to Catch a Leprechaun, 2016, etc.) with this Christmas story about an elf who must avoid traps constructed by children before Santa’s annual visit.
The unnamed elf narrator is the sole helper traveling with Santa on his delivery rounds on Christmas Eve, with each house featuring a different type of trap for elves. The spunky elf avoids a mechanical “elf snatcher,” hidden in a plate of cookies, as well as simple traps made of tinsel, double-sided tape, and a cardboard box concealing a mean-looking cat. Another trap looks like a bomb hidden in a box of candy, and a complicated trap in a maze has an evil cowboy clown with a branding iron, leading to the elf’s cry, “Hey, you zapped my tushy!” The bomb trap and the branding iron seem to push the envelope of child-made inventions. The final trap is located in a family grocery store that’s booby-trapped with a “Dinner Cannon” shooting out food, including a final pizza that the elf and Santa share. The singsong, rhyming text has a forced cheeriness, full of golly-jolly-holly Christmas spirit and too many exclamation marks, as well as rhyming word pairs that miss the mark. (No, little elf-boy, “smarter” and “harder” do not rhyme.) Bold, busy illustrations in a cartoon style have a cheeky appeal with a focus on the freckle-faced white elf with auburn curls and a costume with a retro vibe. (Santa is also white.)
A forgettable effort that fails to capture any of the magical charm of Santa’s story. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4631-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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