For kids who like to have a little rambunctious, sloppy fun with their Christmas baking.
A table full of cookie cutters and an empty plate for Santa, seen from above, set the stage for the return of Cookiesaurus Rex after his eponymous debut (2017).
All of the cookies—bell, star, gingerbread boy, and the reptilian, self-described “King of All Cookies”—hope to be picked for Santa’s plate. But it’s Cookiesaurus who takes issue with the baker, whose hand moves everyone but him. He points out that “it’s not fair. Dinos have Christmas spirit too!” He does everything he can to be included, including pole-vaulting to the plate with a candy cane (and spilling the milk), but the hand keeps putting him back on the tray. Cookiesaurus’ snarky dialogue, delivered in speech bubbles, provides the humor that moves this adventure along: “Me! Pick Me!… / …What’s so special about Star? Is it because she twinkles? Because I can tinkle too…I mean TWINKLE!” After a great deal of effort, he finally gets put on the plate, but all of the others have fallen in the process. The fear that he’ll be put on Santa’s “Naughty List” compels him to put the others back on the plate. After one last outburst (“Wait one stinkin’, stompin’ minute!”), he’s rewarded in the end. Colorful illustrations bring the expressive cookies to life; the hand that wields “Mr. Spatula” is white.
For kids who like to have a little rambunctious, sloppy fun with their Christmas baking. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4847-6745-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
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