An intergenerational friendship and a busy holiday made meaningful set this title apart.
When Kerry needs a break from her family’s Christmas overload, she discovers new traditions with her neighbor Mrs. Flores.
From the day after Thanksgiving, Kerry’s family goes “totally berzerk” with Christmas everything, all the time. Christmas lights, Christmas music, Christmas cookies, Christmas elves, Christmas specials on Christmas channels. Overwhelmed, Kerry goes outside, but there too, her neighbors’ huge Christmas displays adorn their snow-covered lawns. Except at Mrs. Flores’ house. Kerry greets her—in Spanish—and helps her with her groceries. Mrs. Flores invites Kerry in for cocoa. Kerry notices Mrs. Flores’ small tabletop tree decorated only with paper flowers and accompanied by a photo of a family that she learns is in Mexico. Mrs. Flores teaches Kerry to make paper flowers. They sing and dance, decorate, and light a candle for Mrs. Flores’ family. Then Kerry helps Mrs. Flores contact her family via a new tablet, a gift. Kerry brings new traditions home, and her mom suggests inviting Mrs. Flores over for Christmas dinner. Kerry and family are White; Mrs. Flores and family are brown-skinned with curly hair. The illustrations use speech bubbles in both English and Spanish to advance the story; the art perfectly reflects the overload, relief, and joy that Kerry experiences: Busy spreads give way to simpler ones, and a refreshing new color scheme is introduced with the paper flowers. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An intergenerational friendship and a busy holiday made meaningful set this title apart. (craft) (Picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2800-4
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Two Lions
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned.
All the reasons why a daughter needs a mother.
Each spread features an adorable cartoon animal parent-child pair on the recto opposite a rhyming verse: “I’ll always support you in giving your all / in every endeavor, the big and the small, / and be there to catch you in case you should fall. / I hope you believe this is true.” A virtually identical book, Why a Daughter Needs a Dad, publishes simultaneously. Both address standing up for yourself and your values, laughing to ease troubles, being thankful, valuing friendship, persevering and dreaming big, being truthful, thinking through decisions, and being open to differences, among other topics. Though the sentiments/life lessons here and in the companion title are heartfelt and important, there are much better ways to deliver them. These books are likely to go right over children’s heads and developmental levels (especially with the rather advanced vocabulary); their parents are the more likely audience, and for them, the books provide some coaching in what kids need to hear. The two books are largely interchangeable, especially since there are so few references to mom or dad, but one spread in each book reverts to stereotype: Dad balances the two-wheeler, and mom helps with clothing and hair styles. Since the books are separate, it aids in customization for many families.
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned. (Picture book. 4-8, adult)Pub Date: May 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6781-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
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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