A meandering chapbook low on conflict, with a young, cleverly modern narrator.
A 10-year-old girl journeys with a magical Dream Pony to meet Santa and help spread belief in Christmas magic in this full-color illustrated chapter book for early elementary readers.
Julie, the younger of 10-year-old twins, is adjusting to life in her new home with the help of a Dream Pony, Algonquin, she discovered in the attic. The stuffed pony magically transforms into a life-sized, colorfully speckled pony, accompanied by a Jiminy Cricket–like guardian, Mickey Bright, a spider. (Julie recalls an earlier adventure when she met the pair, though no previous title is available.) Algonquin and Mickey Bright arrive at Julie’s side the week before Christmas to take her on a journey to the North Pole. Dressed in magically provided snow gear, Julie hops on Algonquin’s back as the Dream Pony flies her north. First, they encounter the gray wolf leader, Baron, who tries to intimidate them, but they easily escape. Next, they meet Great Maximus, leader of the polar bears, who welcomes them in his territory and explains that most children, at the age of 10, lose the ability to see Santa Claus because they begin to stop believing in magic. Algonquin takes a rest when the trio catches a ride on the icebreaker Benedict after encountering some penguin musicians (who have no business being in the Northern Hemisphere). An encounter with the friends’ old nemesis Magnifico—wearing a turban—is easily won, giving Julie plenty of time to solve Santa’s problem of children growing too old for him; a timely Internet petition plays a part. The illustrations suit the mood of the story and are spread out frequently enough to balance the text-dense chapters. All of Julie’s hurdles seem defeated by others and easily overcome, until Julie finally takes the lead saving Santa. Some worldbuilding issues may leave readers at a loss—Julie seems to be gone for several days, but her family doesn’t notice?—but many will find the multicolored magic pony enchanting.
A meandering chapbook low on conflict, with a young, cleverly modern narrator.Pub Date: May 29, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5049-1432-1
Page Count: 50
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
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A forgettable effort that fails to capture any of the magical charm of Santa’s story. (Picture book. 3-6)
Wallace and Elkerton continue their series about catching elusive mythical creatures (How to Catch a Leprechaun, 2016, etc.) with this Christmas story about an elf who must avoid traps constructed by children before Santa’s annual visit.
The unnamed elf narrator is the sole helper traveling with Santa on his delivery rounds on Christmas Eve, with each house featuring a different type of trap for elves. The spunky elf avoids a mechanical “elf snatcher,” hidden in a plate of cookies, as well as simple traps made of tinsel, double-sided tape, and a cardboard box concealing a mean-looking cat. Another trap looks like a bomb hidden in a box of candy, and a complicated trap in a maze has an evil cowboy clown with a branding iron, leading to the elf’s cry, “Hey, you zapped my tushy!” The bomb trap and the branding iron seem to push the envelope of child-made inventions. The final trap is located in a family grocery store that’s booby-trapped with a “Dinner Cannon” shooting out food, including a final pizza that the elf and Santa share. The singsong, rhyming text has a forced cheeriness, full of golly-jolly-holly Christmas spirit and too many exclamation marks, as well as rhyming word pairs that miss the mark. (No, little elf-boy, “smarter” and “harder” do not rhyme.) Bold, busy illustrations in a cartoon style have a cheeky appeal with a focus on the freckle-faced white elf with auburn curls and a costume with a retro vibe. (Santa is also white.)
A forgettable effort that fails to capture any of the magical charm of Santa’s story. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4631-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
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