Teaches about and celebrates Jewish religious and cultural wedding traditions.
A young dancer discovers terpsichorean beauty at a Jewish wedding.
Instead of dancing her solo at the ballet recital, Sarah has to attend her cousin’s wedding. Defiantly dressed in her ballet costume, Sarah finds herself drawn in by the beautiful movements of the Jewish wedding ceremony. At the reception, the klezmer band plays as friends and family dance around the bride and groom. Sarah doesn’t want to join in—it’s not as graceful as ballet—but when her cousin pulls her into the circle, Sarah loses herself in the music as she dances her solo at long last. The descriptive third-person narration provides natural pauses for questions and discussion during a read-aloud. While Sarah’s love of dance is a major plot driver, this book is more about Jewish culture than ballet. Backmatter provides insight into Jewish wedding traditions. Unfortunately, there are two illustrations that incorrectly depict ballet positions and movements. Ballet inconsistencies aside, the celebratory illustrations are cheerful and inviting. They employ exuberant, sometimes squiggly, linework and a color palette contrasting rosy red with cool turquoise and blue. Main characters are drawn with pale pink skin; Sarah has red hair. Wedding guests and musicians include people of all ages with a variety of skin tones, hair colors/textures, and body shapes. One guest uses a wheelchair.
Teaches about and celebrates Jewish religious and cultural wedding traditions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-735-0875-0-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Endless Mountains Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience.
The How to Catch A… crew try for Comet.
Having already failed to nab a Halloween witch, the Easter Bunny, a turkey, a leprechaun, the Tooth Fairy, and over a dozen other iconic trophies in previous episodes of this bestselling series, one would think the racially diverse gaggle of children in Elkerton’s moonlit, wintry scenes would be flagging…but no, here they lay out snares ranging from a loop of garland to an igloo baited with reindeer moss to an enticing candy cane maze, all in hopes of snagging one of Santa’s reindeer while he’s busy delivering presents. Infused with pop culture–based Christmas cheer (“Now I’ve already seen the shelf with the elf”), Comet prances past the traps until it’s time to gather up the kids, most of whom look terrified, for a group snapshot with the other reindeer and then climb back into harness: “This was a great stop but a few million to go / Christmas Eve must continue with style!” Though festive, the verse feels trite and unlikely to entice youngsters. A sprinkling of “True Facts About Reindeer” (“They live in the tundra, where they have friends like the arctic bunny”) wrap up this celebration of the predatory spirit. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 9781728276137
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2022
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Not enough tricks to make this a treat.
Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.
Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
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