This French import is well intentioned but unlikely to melt many hearts.
Even though a beloved snowman melts away, his friends learn he isn’t gone forever.
Four forest animals depend on the Snowman’s wisdom and antics. When spring’s arrival melts him away, the group sets off to the seaside to search for what’s left of the Snowman, ultimately finding him watching them from above as a puffy, snowman-shaped cloud. Learning that they can reunite with the Snowman when the snow falls is a clever and sweet wrap-up, but as a whole, the book feels stuck in the slush. The wordy, meandering plot makes the book feel aimless—is it meant to be a reflection on friendship and loss or a rollicking journey story? Since the initial relationship between the critters and their frosty friend feels underdeveloped, their grief seems contrived, and given his moderately uncanny black button eyes, some readers might be a little relieved to see the Snowman thaw. Rabbit, Hedgehog, Squirrel, and Owl share the same flaw, all portrayed in a semirealistic style but with disconcertingly blank eyes that aren’t entirely offset by their darling winter hats. Charming or moving pages are scattered through—a boisterous wagon ride; a beautifully blurred page in olive, tan, and brown of small faces staring up in wonder—but they don’t quite overcome the illustrations in which the animal’s bodies are peculiarly shaped and scaled.
This French import is well intentioned but unlikely to melt many hearts. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5526-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: May 25, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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