Readers may learn a thing or two about both being a friend and getting over their own fears.
A moose and his forest friends are busy planning a Valentine’s Day party, but one aspect of the organizing stops them in their tracks.
Squirrel’s got the balloons covered, Bunny’s on the cards, and Porcupine is practicing hugs. But when Moose announces that everyone has to come, Bunny points out a potential problem: if Groundhog sees his shadow, he’ll go back to sleep and miss the party. The animals try to devise clever solutions, but they argue so long about which is best that they miss their opportunity: Groundhog’s already seen his shadow and gone back inside. When the friends surmise that he is afraid of shadows, they each propose a fun way to ease his fears, and they are successful. But to their disappointment, Groundhog is still going back to bed: it’s cold. They do receive “Groundhugs” beforehand, though. Six weeks later Groundhog emerges sporting a jaunty green suit and top hat, ready for a St. Patrick’s Day party. But now Bunny is mysteriously holed up….Denise’s digital illustrations anthropomorphize the friends, who walk on their hind legs. Most are accessorized and/or clothed, and they are surrounded by familiar human sights: houses, furniture, teacups. The light and shadows in the artwork are magical, a golden glow pervading the spreads.
Readers may learn a thing or two about both being a friend and getting over their own fears. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4847-5356-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Oct. 29, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2017
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
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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