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WHO WOULD LIKE A CHRISTMAS TREE?

Name: WHO WOULD LIKE A CHRISTMAS TREE?
Author: Ellen Bryan Obed
ISBN: 978-0-547-04625-9

by Ellen Bryan Obed & illustrated by Anne Hunter ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2009

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A patterned text using the titular question for each month is the structure for this ecologically themed Christmas story. For each month, a particular animal, bird or insect pipes up to describe why a particular Christmas tree is a good home. The first-person narration in the voice of each creature gives some additional information about that animal’s environment, food and travels, and a double-page illustration offers close-up views of the animal in relation to the trees at the Christmas tree farm. The page for December shows two children and their father choosing the tree to take home to trim. The concluding pages give the common and scientific names for each animal with notes from the Christmas-tree farmer who served as an advisor for the book. A fine Christmas gift for a budding scientist. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009

ISBN: 978-0-547-04625-9

Page Count: 32

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2009

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

- BOOK REVIEW
TWELVE KINDS OF ICE
by Ellen Bryan Obed & illustrated by Barbara McClintock

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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CHICKA CHICKA TRICKA TREAT

From the Chicka Chicka Book series

by Julien Chung ; illustrated by Julien Chung ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 15, 2025

A bit predictable but pleasantly illustrated.

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Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault’s classic alphabet book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989) gets the Halloween treatment.

Chung follows the original formula to the letter. In alphabetical order, each letter climbs to the top of a tree. They are knocked back to the ground in a jumble before climbing up in sequence again. In homage to the spooky holiday theme, they scale a “creaky old tree,” and a ghostly jump scare causes the pileup. The chunky, colorful art is instantly recognizable. The charmingly costumed letters (“H swings a tail. / I wears a patch. J and K don / bows that don’t match”) are set against a dark backdrop, framed by pages with orange or purple borders. The spreads feature spiderwebs and jack-o’-lanterns. The familiar rhyme cadence is marred by the occasional clunky or awkward phrase; in particular, the adapted refrain of “Chicka chicka tricka treat” offers tongue-twisting fun, but it’s repeatedly followed by the disappointing half-rhyme “Everybody sneaka sneak.” Even this odd construction feels shoehorned into place, since “sneaking” makes little sense when every character in the book is climbing together. The final line of the book ends on a more satisfying note, with “Everybody—time to eat!”

A bit predictable but pleasantly illustrated. (Picture book. 3-7)