Once the surprise is revealed, there’s not much excitement left.
How can you obey a rule when there’s a mystery to solve?
It’s Christmas Eve, and there is one very important rule that must be followed: You can’t peek at your presents until Mommy and Daddy are up and about. Three siblings get ready for a cozy night, but two of them hear a loud squeak coming from downstairs. When they go to investigate, the other one, the book’s narrator, suspects them of ulterior motives. To stop them from repeating the trick, the narrator makes a bed on an armchair at the base of the stairs. No matter how many times the two kids get sent back upstairs, the squeaking keeps happening. Finally, the narrator can’t deny the incessant sounds coming from below the Christmas tree. The children all discover what was making the noise just as their parents appear. This quick and simple tale, told mostly through dialogue among the kids, plays on sibling dynamics. The very straightforward premise provides little in the way of nuance and inventiveness, but younger readers may find it somewhat amusing. The lighthearted, cartoon style of the illustrations makes for some fun moments, especially through the sound-effect balloons. The narrator is light-skinned with reddish-orange hair, the other siblings are brown-skinned and dark-haired, one of the parents is light-skinned and blond, and the other parent is dark-haired and brown-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Once the surprise is revealed, there’s not much excitement left. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-328-80959-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s not whether you win or lose; it’s how many mediocre sequels you can squeeze out of Seussian property.
Since a reformed Grinch is hardly any fun, this follow-up Grinches him up once more.
Those seeking more of the same, prepare to receive precisely that. Christmas is coming (again!), and the Grinch can hardly wait. He’s been patient all year, and now he can finally show the Whos down in Who-ville how much he’s changed. When the Grinch learns of a tree-decorating contest, he figures that if he wins, it’ll prove he truly has the Christmas spirit. He throws himself into the task, but when it comes time to judge the trees, the Grinch is horrified to discover that he’s received only the second-place trophy. Can Cindy-Lou Who find the words to save the day? Replicating many of the original beats and wordplay of the original, this tale feels like less a sequel and more like a vaguely rewritten variation. Meanwhile, Ruiz’s art seeks to bridge the gap between the animated Chuck Jones version of the Grinch and the one depicted in the original book. This thankless task results in a strange uncanny valley between Seuss and Jones but does allow the artist a chance to colorize everything and lend some racial diversity to the Who population (Cindy-Lou is light-skinned). (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s not whether you win or lose; it’s how many mediocre sequels you can squeeze out of Seussian property. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780593563168
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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