A reminder that holiday celebrations are fun, no matter when, no matter where.
Two Jewish children on opposite sides of the globe celebrate Hanukkah.
Noah’s a New Yorker; cousin Nora’s a New Zealander. On phone chats, they compare time differences: When Noah eats Saturday dinner, Nora eats Sunday lunch; while Noah’s school is closed for winter break, Nora’s school is gearing up for summer. What’s alike? Hanukkah’s coming; each child has mailed the other a present. They hold a competition: “Winter vs. Summer! Who can have the world’s best Hanukkah?” As usual, lifestyles contrast. Apparel and activities diverge because of seasonal dissimilarities, yet traditions are comparable: menorahs, savories, prayers, dreidels. The cartoony illustrations—created with pencil, charcoal, and brush and ink and then assembled digitally—are lively, and the tale is energetic. Some readers might wish the book had included a map displaying the vast geographic distance between the United States and New Zealand or a discussion of the earth’s hemispheres. Still, it’s an original and fun take on Hanukkah. The book also lacks a glossary and pronunciation guide. Occasionally, undefined words in Hebrew and Maori appear, though most are comprehensible contextually; additionally, a Hebrew prayer is incorporated into an illustration but goes untranslated. Noah, Nora, and their families are light-skinned; background characters are diverse.
A reminder that holiday celebrations are fun, no matter when, no matter where. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9781419762963
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2023
Not enough tricks to make this a treat.
Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.
Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
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Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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