The little mouse who didn’t want to share in The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear (1984) returns to celebrate Christmas in this delightful sequel from Audrey Wood and Don Wood. They again use the same inventive format of the first-person narrative voice speaking directly to the mouse character, who gazes out boldly at the reader and adjusts his expressions and behavior in an interactive way that draws the reader into the story. At first, Mouse doesn’t want to share any of his stacks of Christmas gifts when reminded of big, hungry Bear who also loves Christmas presents. Several double-paged spreads on the oversized pages show Mouse barring the door, setting tacks around the tree, and chaining the presents together. Comments from the narrative voice cause Mouse to feel empathy for Bear, who is never seen but is presented as terrifying but sad because he never receives any presents of his own. Mouse bravely takes a load of presents to leave for Bear, decorates the Bear’s tree to the strains of “Quick little Mouse. Someone big is waking up. . . .” and in return, receives a huge, wrapped box, leaving it to the reader to speculate what might be inside. Mouse exemplifies the lightning-fast mood changes of a young child, looking straight out at his audience and showing pride, fear, greed, obstinacy, empathy, and awe in turn on his amazingly expressive face. Sharing with others, even when it’s hard, is truly an important lesson, and Mouse’s small heart grows three sizes in this touching tale. (Picture book. 2-7)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-439-32092-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Blue Sky/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s not whether you win or lose; it’s how many mediocre sequels you can squeeze out of Seussian property.
Since a reformed Grinch is hardly any fun, this follow-up Grinches him up once more.
Those seeking more of the same, prepare to receive precisely that. Christmas is coming (again!), and the Grinch can hardly wait. He’s been patient all year, and now he can finally show the Whos down in Who-ville how much he’s changed. When the Grinch learns of a tree-decorating contest, he figures that if he wins, it’ll prove he truly has the Christmas spirit. He throws himself into the task, but when it comes time to judge the trees, the Grinch is horrified to discover that he’s received only the second-place trophy. Can Cindy-Lou Who find the words to save the day? Replicating many of the original beats and wordplay of the original, this tale feels like less a sequel and more like a vaguely rewritten variation. Meanwhile, Ruiz’s art seeks to bridge the gap between the animated Chuck Jones version of the Grinch and the one depicted in the original book. This thankless task results in a strange uncanny valley between Seuss and Jones but does allow the artist a chance to colorize everything and lend some racial diversity to the Who population (Cindy-Lou is light-skinned). (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s not whether you win or lose; it’s how many mediocre sequels you can squeeze out of Seussian property. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780593563168
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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