A fantastic bedtime read, both lyrical and playful.
A child knight delays bedtime as the rest of the castle winds down for sleep.
Each page finds the little knight seeking a way to postpone sleep. “Five more minutes!” shouts the youngster, and when the parent knight offers to read the little one a story, the child asks for two bedtime reads. The parent chases the youngster around the castle, past sleeping hounds, a dozing dragon, and slumbering Sir Horse-a-Lot. Adults will chuckle in sympathy as this caregiver attempts to ready the child for sleep, while kids will love the little knight’s evasive moves. Making use of rich vocabulary (apothecaries, soot), the text hits just the right note, capturing the flavor of a medieval castle (“Troubadours stop strumming lutes. / Nobles end their dance”) while also setting an appropriately soothing tone. The tale flows well when read aloud, with smooth rhymes; adults and kids alike will be eager to make this a bedtime staple. Depicting a vibrant castle full of action, the illustrations imaginatively blend Middle Ages hallmarks with more modern elements. The knights are tan-skinned, with red hair mostly concealed beneath their helmets, while the castle’s other inhabitants vary in skin tone. When the knights finally remove their helmets at book’s end, both are revealed to have long hair; the younger knight’s tresses are adorned with pink bows.
A fantastic bedtime read, both lyrical and playful. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781523527861
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience.
The How to Catch A… crew try for Comet.
Having already failed to nab a Halloween witch, the Easter Bunny, a turkey, a leprechaun, the Tooth Fairy, and over a dozen other iconic trophies in previous episodes of this bestselling series, one would think the racially diverse gaggle of children in Elkerton’s moonlit, wintry scenes would be flagging…but no, here they lay out snares ranging from a loop of garland to an igloo baited with reindeer moss to an enticing candy cane maze, all in hopes of snagging one of Santa’s reindeer while he’s busy delivering presents. Infused with pop culture–based Christmas cheer (“Now I’ve already seen the shelf with the elf”), Comet prances past the traps until it’s time to gather up the kids, most of whom look terrified, for a group snapshot with the other reindeer and then climb back into harness: “This was a great stop but a few million to go / Christmas Eve must continue with style!” Though festive, the verse feels trite and unlikely to entice youngsters. A sprinkling of “True Facts About Reindeer” (“They live in the tundra, where they have friends like the arctic bunny”) wrap up this celebration of the predatory spirit. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 9781728276137
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2022
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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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