The holiday ditty gets a reworking in thick Scots dialect, from “a reid robin in a rowan tree” on.
The fun comes in reading (or, for the daring, singing) the lyrics aloud: “On the 12th day o Yuletide, / My true luve gied tae me / 12 drummers dirlin, / 11 pipes a-skirlin, / 10 lads a-lowpin, / 9 lassies birlin….” In cleanly drawn illustrations, the shaggy livestock (the “5 gowden rings” are in the noses of golden brown Highland cattle) are as frisky as the lads, clad in short pants, and the tartan-skirted pipers and lassies. Except for the rowan and a stray sheep or “collie dug” (dog) off in the distance, Land keeps his increasingly wintry country scenes from turning overcrowded by moving all the previous gifts offstage until the festive “lowpin birl” that fills the final spread. Rennie closes with a glossary and a pronunciation guide for Scots cardinal and ordinal numbers.
The familiar rhyme gets a braw shoogle, skooshing along in tandem with scenes of bonnie revelry. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-7825-0208-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Floris
Review Posted Online: Oct. 6, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
Categories: CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS
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Young children won't understand the metaphors but will appreciate the sentiment made clear by the repeated, Halloween-themed declarations of love in Wan's latest board book.
Each of the seven spreads presents an endearment illustrated by an object drawn with heavy outlines and just enough detail to invoke its essential characteristics. Lest it become too maudlin, between the “sugary, sweet candy corn” and a “purr-fect, cuddly kitty” is a “wild, messy monster.” Wan manages to make each drawing expressive and distinctive while relying on just a few shapes—crescents or circles for eyes, dots or ovals accenting cheeks. Although each spread stands alone, there are quiet connections. For example, the orange of the pumpkin is repeated in the candy corn, and the purple that adorns kitty's hat and bow becomes the prominent color on the next spread, setting off the friendly white ghost nicely. The same purple is used for the spider's body on the next to last spread. Subtle, shadowed backgrounds repeat the patterns found elsewhere in the book. For example, the background of the page with the kitty includes pumpkins, hearts, and hats and bows like the ones kitty is wearing.
While this is not an essential purchase, most little pumpkins will love being told, “Baby, I'm batty for you!” (Board book. 6 mos.-3)Pub Date: June 28, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-88092-3
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
Categories: CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS
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A glimpse of life along British Columbia’s Harrison River, a millennium ago.
When P'ésk'a, a child of the Sta'ailes (also known as Chehalis) people, wakes to discover that a special tray needed for the First Salmon Ceremony has been left behind, he snatches it up and hurries riverward to deliver it to the Siyá:m (chief). Respectfully noting that this is an “interpretation of a time and place” 1,000 years ago, Ritchie threads his rudimentary plotline through village scenes of lightly clad people busily at work: fishing, building, hollowing out a cedar log for a canoe, making drums, weaving baskets, preparing the feast, and finally gathering on the bank to give thanks for the sth'óqwi (salmon) that is “the greatest gift.” The illustrations are created with abbreviated brush strokes and short, loosely drawn pen lines and have the warm, detailed look of Bob Graham’s work. First Salmon ceremonies are common throughout the Pacific Northwest, and aside from some distinctively patterned hats and a few other details, there is not much to distinguish the figures or their surroundings from any of the region’s small traditional settlements. Still, an afterword furnishes more about this ancient band’s way of life, and a short glossary provides an opportunity to sample its language.
Though there’s not much of a storyline, the book is a good initial introduction to a lesser-known First Nations people. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-55498-718-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
Categories: CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS
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