Preschoolers will be delighted with the visual mayhem, although parents may cringe at the quantity of junk food depicted.
Using similar photographic treatment and subject matter developed in his earlier picture book, Peanut Butter and Cupcake (2014), Border follows the journey of the eponymous heroine in her search for the perfectly themed birthday party.
During a walk with her friend Muffin, she muses on the theme that would best suit all of her friends. A beach party is out, because “the beach is so hot, and some of us might get drippy.” A boat ride is risky too, because “if the ship rocks, Soup might lose his lunch.” Musical chairs would be dangerous because the softer friends might get squished. Moreover, Cupcake herself is ill-equipped to limbo. During the discussion, the friends arrive at Muffin’s house, where… “Surprise!!!” All the friends are gathered for a surprise party. Even though they do get drippy and a little squished, it is still the best birthday party that anyone can remember. As in his earlier picture book, Border’s characters are skillfully crafted food items with basic wire limbs arranged in simple landscapes. Visual puns abound: a pat of butter with wings attached (Butterfly, geddit?). There’s no stinting on the gross factor; everyone gets spilled and sticky in true toddler fashion; in one double-page spread, Hamburger’s frosting-and-sprinkles makeover is lovingly depicted.
Preschoolers will be delighted with the visual mayhem, although parents may cringe at the quantity of junk food depicted. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-399-17160-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2015
Cookie-cutter predictability.
After all the daring escapes in the How To Catch… series, will the kids be able to catch Santa?
Oddly, previous installments saw the children trying (and failing) to catch an elf and a reindeer, but both are easily captured in this story. Santa, however, is slippery. Tempted but not fooled by poinsettias, a good book (attached to a slingshot armed with a teddy bear projectile), and, of course, milk and cookies, Santa foils every plan. The hero in a red suit has a job to do. Presents must be placed, and lists must be checked. He has no time for traps and foolery (except if you’re the elf, who falls for every one of them). Luckily, Santa helps the little rascal escape each time. Little is new here—the kids resort to similar snares found in previous works: netting, lures, and technological wonders such as the Santa Catcher 5000. Although the rhythm falters quite a bit (“How did we get out you ask? / It looked like we were done for. / Santa’s magic is very real, / and I cannot reveal more”), fans of the series may not mind. Santa and Christmas just might be enough to overcome the flaws. Santa and the elf are light-skinned, one of the children is brown-skinned, and the other presents as Asian. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Cookie-cutter predictability. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781728274270
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2023
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BOOK REVIEW
A forgettable effort that fails to capture any of the magical charm of Santa’s story. (Picture book. 3-6)
Wallace and Elkerton continue their series about catching elusive mythical creatures (How to Catch a Leprechaun, 2016, etc.) with this Christmas story about an elf who must avoid traps constructed by children before Santa’s annual visit.
The unnamed elf narrator is the sole helper traveling with Santa on his delivery rounds on Christmas Eve, with each house featuring a different type of trap for elves. The spunky elf avoids a mechanical “elf snatcher,” hidden in a plate of cookies, as well as simple traps made of tinsel, double-sided tape, and a cardboard box concealing a mean-looking cat. Another trap looks like a bomb hidden in a box of candy, and a complicated trap in a maze has an evil cowboy clown with a branding iron, leading to the elf’s cry, “Hey, you zapped my tushy!” The bomb trap and the branding iron seem to push the envelope of child-made inventions. The final trap is located in a family grocery store that’s booby-trapped with a “Dinner Cannon” shooting out food, including a final pizza that the elf and Santa share. The singsong, rhyming text has a forced cheeriness, full of golly-jolly-holly Christmas spirit and too many exclamation marks, as well as rhyming word pairs that miss the mark. (No, little elf-boy, “smarter” and “harder” do not rhyme.) Bold, busy illustrations in a cartoon style have a cheeky appeal with a focus on the freckle-faced white elf with auburn curls and a costume with a retro vibe. (Santa is also white.)
A forgettable effort that fails to capture any of the magical charm of Santa’s story. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4631-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
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