A disappointing addition to an already-full shelf
Bright yet busy illustrations light up this nighttime story.
Bedtime stories that feature animals and the moon are all too familiar, and this book does not stand out from the pack. Pencil-and-digital illustrations depict animals from all over the world, making noises and moving about as the moon rises and sets in the night sky. The primarily purple, red, and blue palette is eye-catching, as is the attention to textures and patterns. However, the text leaves readers with more questions than answers: How can the moon move simultaneously over the Northern and Southern hemispheres? Why are diurnal animals included, such as lions, monkeys, penguins, and meerkats, in what should be a nocturnal menagerie? Why are these animals together at the end when they live on different continents? And why do they then say hello to the setting moon; shouldn’t they bid the moon goodbye? In addition, the stars shine brightly throughout the text, but at dusk and dawn, stars are less visible than they are in darkest night. Furthermore, some of the animals don’t make the sounds ascribed to them in the text—for example, koalas don’t bellow. Problematic rhyme and meter further detract from this already disappointing reading experience. Skip this book and choose more-thoughtful, well-thought-out depictions of bedtime, nighttime, and the moon.
A disappointing addition to an already-full shelf . (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-76012-546-2
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Hare/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
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BOOK REVIEW
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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