Most will find this newfangled Frosty a fine fellow, but a few sensitive readers may find him more of a nightmare than a...
“Thumpety thump thump, look at Frosty go!” He’s come back to life again with an edgy, 21st-century vibe in this updated picture-book version of the beloved children’s song that has been popular for over half a century and has become indelibly associated with Christmas.
Previous illustrated versions of the song featured an old-fashioned, jolly snowman and sweet, 1950s-era children. With this new interpretation, Zahares creates a striking, moody atmosphere in his arresting pastel illustrations. The views of Frosty dancing around the village feature deep, saturated colors, bold shapes and a pervasive blue haze of shadows against the snow. Zahares has invented a completely different Frosty, with huge red buttons, long, wooden arms and diamond-shaped eyes that seem menacing rather than friendly. Although the snowman is described in the lyrics as “alive as he could be,” this Frosty seems rather like a robot—quite possibly a scary, 10-foot-tall robot that might whack you with his huge broom. Nevertheless, the multiethnic child characters, extra-large trim size and vibrant illustrations in double-page-spread format make this a natural choice for reading or singing with a stouthearted group. A CD of the song, as recorded by Kenny Loggins, is included with the book.
Most will find this newfangled Frosty a fine fellow, but a few sensitive readers may find him more of a nightmare than a fairy tale come to life. (performer’s note, artist’s note) (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-62354-012-8
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
As ephemeral as a valentine.
Daywalt and Jeffers’ wandering crayons explore love.
Each double-page spread offers readers a vision of one of the anthropomorphic crayons on the left along with the statement “Love is [color].” The word love is represented by a small heart in the appropriate color. Opposite, childlike crayon drawings explain how that color represents love. So, readers learn, “love is green. / Because love is helpful.” The accompanying crayon drawing depicts two alligators, one holding a recycling bin and the other tossing a plastic cup into it, offering readers two ways of understanding green. Some statements are thought-provoking: “Love is white. / Because sometimes love is hard to see,” reaches beyond the immediate image of a cat’s yellow eyes, pink nose, and black mouth and whiskers, its white face and body indistinguishable from the paper it’s drawn on, to prompt real questions. “Love is brown. / Because sometimes love stinks,” on the other hand, depicted by a brown bear standing next to a brown, squiggly turd, may provoke giggles but is fundamentally a cheap laugh. Some of the color assignments have a distinctly arbitrary feel: Why is purple associated with the imagination and pink with silliness? Fans of The Day the Crayons Quit (2013) hoping for more clever, metaliterary fun will be disappointed by this rather syrupy read.
As ephemeral as a valentine. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Dec. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5247-9268-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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