Gently encourages readers to be comfortable with themselves every day and to embrace their extraordinary natures.
You don’t have to be quirky to be extraordinary!
This very active mother-child combo lives in the moment with smiles. Mom has a fair complexion and vibrant red-orange crimped hair, and the child narrator has light skin and red-brown pigtails. They make daisy crowns and art, rescue animals in need, climb rocks, take road trips, and meditate on mountaintops. Mom is comfortable singing out of tune and break-dancing at the grocery store and has a “canvas” of tattoos. Out in their diverse community, the two share Sunday barbecues and personal stories and join drum circles under the stars. But Mom also embraces quiet days that “are made for staying home in our pajamas eating chocolate cake” and the idea that “extraordinary isn’t always colorful and bold. It can also be found under blankets telling stories we remember by heart.” Mom shares smiles to make someone’s day and words of encouragement like “it’s okay not to be okay.” Brilliantly colored and detailed illustrations make this a good book for sharing with a group, but readers should take the time to scout out the expressive pets that accompany the duo on many of their adventures. This mom is like no other, but that is the point. “It’s important to be exactly who you are,” and who you are is extraordinary. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Gently encourages readers to be comfortable with themselves every day and to embrace their extraordinary natures. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-922503-89-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Larrikin House/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers.
The bestselling series (How to Catch an Elf, 2016, etc.) about capturing mythical creatures continues with a story about various ways to catch the Easter Bunny as it makes its annual deliveries.
The bunny narrates its own story in rhyming text, beginning with an introduction at its office in a manufacturing facility that creates Easter eggs and candy. The rabbit then abruptly takes off on its delivery route with a tiny basket of eggs strapped to its back, immediately encountering a trap with carrots and a box propped up with a stick. The narrative focuses on how the Easter Bunny avoids increasingly complex traps set up to catch him with no explanation as to who has set the traps or why. These traps include an underground tunnel, a fluorescent dance floor with a hidden pit of carrots, a robot bunny, pirates on an island, and a cannon that shoots candy fish, as well as some sort of locked, hazardous site with radiation danger. Readers of previous books in the series will understand the premise, but others will be confused by the rabbit’s frenetic escapades. Cartoon-style illustrations have a 1960s vibe, with a slightly scary, bow-tied bunny with chartreuse eyes and a glowing palette of neon shades that shout for attention.
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-3817-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
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A predictable series entry, mitigated as usual by the protagonists’ perennially energetic positivity.
A holiday-centered spinoff from the duo behind the inspired The Day the Crayons Quit (2013).
With Green Crayon on vacation, how can the waxy ones pull off a colorful St. Patrick’s Day celebration with Duncan, their (unseen) owner? Through their signature combo of cooperation and unwavering enthusiasm, of course. Blue and Yellow collaborate on a field of shamrocks that blends—however spottily—into green. Nearly invisible White Crayon supplies an otherwise unclothed light-skinned leprechaun with undies, and Orange draws a pair of pants that match the wee creature’s iconic beard and hair. Pink applies colors to a vest, and Purple, a natty jacket and boots. Chunky Toddler Crayon contributes a “perfect” scribbly blue hat; Beige and Brown team up for the leprechaun’s harp. In arguably the best bit, Black exuberantly manifests a decidedly unvariegated rainbow, while Gold’s pot of coins is right on the money, hue-wise. Their ardor undimmed by the holiday’s missing customary color, everyone assembles to party. Though the repartee among the crayons isn’t as developed as in previous outings, the book hews close to Daywalt and Jeffers’ winning formula, and there’s still enough here to keep readers chuckling. And, in a droll “wait for it” moment nicely calibrated for storytime, Green returns from vacation, sunglasses and suitcase in hand: “Did I miss anything while I was gone?” (The cover illustrations do hint at some Green-inflected remediation.)
A predictable series entry, mitigated as usual by the protagonists’ perennially energetic positivity. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2024
ISBN: 9780593624333
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
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