A so-so-yo-ho Christmas offering.
Who knew pirates started the tradition of delivering Christmas gifts?
Our tale begins long ago. Nic and Kris, the young Beard twins, sail their pirate ship. Dark-haired, brown-skinned Nic loves stealing and brawling; blond-haired, tan-skinned, kindhearted Kris prefers carving toys. One day, Kris finds a necklace that’s washed up. Determined to have it for himself, Nic snatches the necklace and forces Kris onto the plank. Kris falls overboard, eventually drifting to an icy land, where an elf welcomes him. All the elves who live here have broken sleighs. Kris repairs them and teaches the elves to make toys. Kris happily remains on Elf Island for many years, carving toys and caring for reindeer. Both brothers, still far apart, grow older. At last, sad, friendless Nic, his hair now white, decides to search for his long-lost twin. The brothers reunite, and Nic apologizes. Kris suggests they “sail the skies” together in the pirate ship—hauled by reindeer—and deliver toys the night before what “we now call Christmas.” The author adds, “The brothers Beard have many names, / like Kris Kringle and Saint Nic,” and challenges readers to guess which brother they’ve seen. This offbeat, thinly plotted origin story, told in bouncy though occasionally clumsy verse, may leave readers cold, especially those less familiar with the name Kris Kringle. The colorful illustrations are lively but otherwise undistinguished. Still, die-hard pirate fans will likely be pleased. The book includes a QR code that accesses an audio version.
A so-so-yo-ho Christmas offering. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2024
ISBN: 9781802634730
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sweet Cherry Publishing
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A cheery story that “wool” likely evoke some smiles.
A “baa”-nd of pirates gets the wool pulled over their eyes.
After a treasure-hunting foray, Captain Hoof and his crew of fleecy sheep are homeward bound with a glittery bounty—the lost Golden Shears, which once belonged to the infamous Woolly Jones. Suddenly, huge waves engulf and smash their ship. They’re sheepwrecked and stranded on Foggy Island, home to none other than Woolly Jones. After nearly a month of failed attempts to get off the island, Captain Hoof decides to return the shears to their rightful owner. Trekking across the island through fog as thick and impenetrable as wool, captain and crew eventually bump into their nemesis, who snatches the shears from the captain’s hooves. Expecting dire consequences, everyone starts to flee, but things turn out wool, er, well. In a 90-degree book turn, Woolly is depicted using the shears to give himself a much-needed “woolcut.” He’s grateful for the shears—and for the company after a long, lonely spell. Captain Hoof and crew are delighted at this outcome. This is a cute tale, though the plot is a bit thin; the numerous, amusing sheep puns will appeal more to grown-ups than kids. But the digital illustrations are comical and dynamic, and the all-ovine protagonists are lively and expressive. The book contains lots of typographical creativity, including some onomatopoeic words, incorporated into the artwork, and maps in the endpapers include islands bearing funny, aptly punny names.
A cheery story that “wool” likely evoke some smiles. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: July 9, 2024
ISBN: 9780593569665
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
First of a tasty if not immediately nourishing new series.
When Dr. Bunsen, Gabe, Laura, and Cesar's mad-scientist neighbor, tries out his growth machine on Gabe's plastic animal toys, there's an unexpected result—they come to life.
Second-grade whiz kids Gabriel Martinez, Laura Reyes, and Cesar Moreno meet their strange neighbor while fundraising for a science-club field trip. Known to their classmates as “the Data Set,” they each have individual passions: Gabe loves animals; Laura loves to tinker and invent; Cesar loves to read and eat. There’s room for all these activities in their well-equipped treehouse. Together, their fantastic adventures will be the stuff of four titles scheduled for 2016 and aimed directly at first- and second-graders already devouring books. This episode introduces the characters, sets up the problem (the cute but rapidly growing baby animals), and finds a solution (sneak them into the zoo) in 126 fast-paced pages written with plenty of dialogue and copiously illustrated with appealing drawings. With these Latino protagonists—Cesar has dark skin and curly hair, while Laura and Gabe have lighter skin and straight hair—and a STEM-infused plot, this would seem to have been made to order for today’s elementary school students. While the emphasis is far more on plot than STEM, the kid-friendly fantasy should captivate readers, who will certainly want to gobble up the next installment. (Tantalizingly, the opening pages are included.)
First of a tasty if not immediately nourishing new series. (Adventure. 5-8)Pub Date: April 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5729-3
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2016
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