Compromise and collaboration are the keys to holiday joy in this inviting outing.
What’s the merriest time for a kitty-corn? Christmastime!
Kitty is thrilled to share the holiday season with her new bestie, Unicorn. Previous books saw Kitty longing to be a unicorn and Unicorn wishing he could be a cat; together, these “kitty-corns,” as they dub themselves, are determined to have the best Christmas ever. Unicorn’s favorite part of the season is the music, but his tunes put Kitty to sleep. Kitty adores making gingerbread houses, but Unicorn’s messy creation ends up knocking over Kitty’s gingerbread village. Determined to agree on something, they decide that a tree is actually the best part of Christmas. Though Kitty prefers a smaller tree, she assumes Unicorn wants a huge one. The two attempt to decorate their unwieldy tree, with predictably messy results. Both friends are disheartened, but eventually they realize that they have plenty in common after all as they nestle together for more carols and cocoa. This latest saga relies on the ingredients that made the earlier installments pure magic: BFFs who support each other despite conflict, commentary from pals Gecko and Parakeet (who serve as a sort of Greek chorus), and kitty-corn sweetness. In Pham’s airy illustrations, big-eyed pink Kitty sports a unicorn’s horn, while Unicorn wears kitty cat ears. An original Christmas carol, with music, rounds out the package.
Compromise and collaboration are the keys to holiday joy in this inviting outing. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781419768798
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers.
The bestselling series (How to Catch an Elf, 2016, etc.) about capturing mythical creatures continues with a story about various ways to catch the Easter Bunny as it makes its annual deliveries.
The bunny narrates its own story in rhyming text, beginning with an introduction at its office in a manufacturing facility that creates Easter eggs and candy. The rabbit then abruptly takes off on its delivery route with a tiny basket of eggs strapped to its back, immediately encountering a trap with carrots and a box propped up with a stick. The narrative focuses on how the Easter Bunny avoids increasingly complex traps set up to catch him with no explanation as to who has set the traps or why. These traps include an underground tunnel, a fluorescent dance floor with a hidden pit of carrots, a robot bunny, pirates on an island, and a cannon that shoots candy fish, as well as some sort of locked, hazardous site with radiation danger. Readers of previous books in the series will understand the premise, but others will be confused by the rabbit’s frenetic escapades. Cartoon-style illustrations have a 1960s vibe, with a slightly scary, bow-tied bunny with chartreuse eyes and a glowing palette of neon shades that shout for attention.
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-3817-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
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Not enough tricks to make this a treat.
Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.
Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
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