by Caralyn Buehner ; illustrated by Mark Buehner ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 20, 2015
Overall, a warm Christmas story with jolly rhymes and happy times for both the humans and the mice who share this house.
Mr. and Mrs. Mouse and their 17 children celebrate their first Christmas in their new home under the floorboards of a warm kitchen.
The husband-and-wife creators of the popular Snowmen at Night series move from snowy scenes to a cozy mouse house with a large family of anthropomorphic mice. In rhyming verse, the text describes how Mr. Mouse buys a new home for his family in a safe spot in a big house occupied by a human family getting ready for Christmas. Inspired, Mr. and Mrs. Mouse decide to provide a celebration for their family, too. With tiny items taken from the human home, the mouse parents create a decorated Christmas tree, and Mrs. Mouse sews pajamas for all the children. Santa doesn’t forget the mouse family on Christmas Eve, leaving tiny presents for all. Mark Buehner’s detail-filled paintings are great fun to peruse. Memorable illustrations include a magical scene of the mouse couple hiding in the humans’ Christmas tree and a sweeping view of the reindeer in flight as seen from above. Each illustration also contains three tiny hidden animals (a rabbit, a cat, and a Tyrannosaurus rex), which are often difficult to spot and are unnecessary to the story. A key to these hidden pictures is printed on the inside of the dust jacket.
Overall, a warm Christmas story with jolly rhymes and happy times for both the humans and the mice who share this house. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8037-4010-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2015
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More by Caralyn Buehner
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by Caralyn Buehner ; illustrated by Mark Buehner
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by Caralyn Buehner & illustrated by Mark Buehner
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by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 29, 2021
A terrific choice for the preschool crowd.
Awards & Accolades
Our Verdict
GET IT
New York Times Bestseller
IndieBound Bestseller
Little Blue Truck learns that he can be as important as the big yellow school bus.
Little Blue Truck is driving along the country road early one morning when he and driver friend Toad come across a big, yellow, shiny school bus. The school bus is friendly, and so are her animal passengers, but when Little Blue Truck wishes aloud he could do an important job like hers, the school bus says only a bus of her size and features can do this job. Little Blue Truck continues along, a bit envious, and finds Piggy crying by the side of the road, having missed the bus. Little Blue tells Piggy to climb in and takes a creative path to the school—one the bus couldn’t navigate—and with an adventurous spirit, gets Piggy there right on time. The simple, rhyming text opens the story with a sweet, fresh, old-fashioned tone and continues with effortlessly rhythmical lines throughout. Little Blue is a brave, helpful, and hopeful character young readers will root for. Adults will feel a rush of nostalgia and delight in sharing this story with children as the animated vehicles and animals in innocent, colorful countryside scenes evoke wholesome character traits and values of growth, grit, and self-acceptance. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A terrific choice for the preschool crowd. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: June 29, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-358-41224-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
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More by Alice Schertle
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by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry
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by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph
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by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph
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