This single-author holiday anthology fairly drips with sugary nostalgia for a storybook version of an English Christmas. A novella, set in the late 1940s, portrays the young daughter of a poor seamstress trying to keep Christmas while her mother lies ill with pneumonia (the local gentry save the day with a hamper of Christmas treats); another reminisces about an Edwardian Christmas at an Anglican parsonage where, after holly-laden festivities, the young daughter pays pastoral calls with Papa, bearing a hamper of Christmas goodies. One short story describes a boy's breathless sledding on a longed-for white Christmas; another is about a lonely old widower who finds an abandoned baby on Christmas Eve and takes it to a hospital, where it is laid lovingly in the annual cräche scene. A final, tedious poem listens to a litany of animals echoing a message on midnight Christmas Eve, summoning all to a wondrous stable scene. Long on misty-eyed description, short on plot and character development, Hill's (King of Kings, 1993, etc.) treacly tales are illustrated with unappealing dark woodcuts, many of them too small. (Fiction. 5+)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1994
ISBN: 1-56402-341-9
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1994
The annual classroom exchange of valentines is the backdrop for this engaging story about retaliation. Gilbert remembers how hurt he felt when Lewis tweaked his nose and when Margaret made fun of his glasses. So when he's faced with 15 blank valentine cards, each one waiting for a poem, he decides to hurt them in return. ``Roses are red, you wet your bed. I think that you have rocks in your head,'' goes to Margaret (he signs it ``Lewis''), while Lewis's card carries the sentiments of the book's title (Gilbert signs that one ``Margaret''). Gilbert feels remorse, however, upon receiving pleasant valentines from both of them, and his regret is compounded when his deceit is discovered and he is shunned by the class. An apology and two new poems from Gilbert patch things up in time for the Valentine's Day party. These hazardous waters of handing out valentines are negotiated by a cast of animals whose emotional toils will closely mirror readers' own. DeGroat pens a sympathetic look at the small hurts in life and the importance of second chances. (Picture book. 5+)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-688-13604-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1995
Sugary uplift, shrink-wrapped for the masses.
An elusive new quarry leads the How To Catch… kids on a merry chase through a natural history museum.
Taking at least a step away from the “hunters versus prey” vibe of previous entries in the popular series, the racially diverse group of young visitors dashes through various museum halls in pursuit of the eponymous dino—whose quest to “spread kindness and joy ’round the world” takes the form of a mildly tumultuous museum tour. In most of Elkerton’s overly sweet, color-saturated scenes, only portions of the Loveosaurus, who is purple and covered with pink hearts, are visible behind exhibits or lumbering off the page. But the children find small enticements left behind, from craft supplies to make cards for endangered species to pictures of smiley faces, candy heart–style personal notes (“You Rock!” “Give Hugs”), and, in the hall of medieval arms and armor, a sign urging them to “Be Honest Be Kind.” The somewhat heavy-handed lesson comes through loud and clear. “There’s a message, he wants us to think,” hints Walstead to clue in more obtuse readers…and concluding scenes of smiling people young and otherwise exchanging hugs and knuckle bumps, holding doors for a wheelchair rider, and dancing through clouds of sparkles indicate that they, at least, have gotten it. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Sugary uplift, shrink-wrapped for the masses. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2022
ISBN: 9781728268781
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2023
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