Little Known Fact: lots of cheery text, exclamation marks and trendy electronic devices do not necessarily add up to a...
Santa’s head elf delivers an hour-by-hour report as he and two other male elves assist Santa with his Christmas Eve deliveries, as well as an emergency delivery on Christmas morning.
This 21st-century elf uses a smartphone, takes “elfies” and communicates with the North Pole with a phone headset. Santa needs his head elf to keep him on track to get through the night, so the elf urges him along with a text: “Time to fly, big guy!” Each page indicates the number of hours left until Christmas morning along with the sleigh’s current location, problems solved and a feature called “Little Known Facts.” For example, “Santa loves dogs and dogs love Santa.” The deliveries are completed by sunrise, but Santa and the elves find a stowaway dog named Tugboat hiding in the bottom of the toy bag, necessitating a return trip. The story tries hard to be humorous and up-to-the-minute, but it is neither new nor particularly funny. Cartoon-style illustrations are adequate but also rather pedestrian. Mrs. Claus is the only female character, holding a tray with hot chocolate and yelling at the menfolk to do the right thing. A 21st-century Mrs. Claus might grab some gal-pal elves and return that dog herself. Although the elves are all male, the general elf crew is multiethnic, and the head, protagonist elf has warm, brown skin and straight black hair—perhaps he's Asian or Latino. In any event, he and his brethren represent a step forward for ethnic elf diversity.
Little Known Fact: lots of cheery text, exclamation marks and trendy electronic devices do not necessarily add up to a successful Christmas story. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-58536-910-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2014
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
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