An invalidating and tactless lesson about coping with the sudden loss of a friend.
A squirrel and a snowman cherish their friendship and hope it will last forever in this Belgian/Dutch import.
When Squirrel sees a shivering, sobbing snowman alone in the cold, she gathers scarves and blankets with the other forest animals to keep him warm. Her act of kindness begins a friendship full of fun that inspires the whole forest to join their play. However, the snow starts melting as the “days fly by,” and Squirrel’s best friend disappears, too. All the forest animals experience the loss. Collagelike illustrations cover every spread with whimsical, wintry scenes, leaving no white space apart from the snow. DeLange foreshadows the snowman’s inevitable demise with warmer weather, so his melting arrives naturally, but the resolution afterward is abrupt and offers hollow closure. Owl’s words of comfort (the concluding lines of the book) dismiss Squirrel’s feelings about the loss of her best friend with the platitude “Don’t be sad”: Snowman lives on in the flowers, leaves, and hearts of his friends. Bright spring colors in the background correspond with this tone of forced positivity. The story introduces no twists or surprises to the “melting snowman” trope. While the celebration of friendship and kindness is sweet, the treatment of Squirrel’s grief gives the story’s overall message an insensitive ring.
An invalidating and tactless lesson about coping with the sudden loss of a friend. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-60537-449-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clavis
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A successful swap from coconut tree to Christmas tree.
A Christmas edition of the beloved alphabet book.
The story starts off nearly identically to Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989), written by John Archambault and the late Bill Martin Jr, with the letters A, B, and C deciding to meet in the branches of a tree. This time, they’re attempting to scale a Christmas tree, not a coconut tree, and the letters are strung together like garland. A, B, and C are joined by the other letters, and of course they all “slip, slop, topple, plop!” right down the tree. At the bottom, they discover an assortment of gifts, all in a variety of shapes. As a team, the letters and presents organize themselves to get back up on the Christmas tree and get a star to the top. Holiday iterations of favorite tales often fall flat, but this take succeeds. The gifts are an easy way to reinforce another preschool concept—shapes—and the text uses just enough of the original to be familiar. The rhyming works, sticking to the cadence of the source material. The illustrations pay homage to the late Lois Ehlert’s, featuring the same bold block letters, though they lack some of the whimsy and personality of the original. Otherwise, everything is similarly brightly colored and simply drawn. Those familiar with the classic will be drawn to this one, but newcomers can enjoy it on its own.
A successful swap from coconut tree to Christmas tree. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781665954761
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground.
A little red sleigh has big Christmas dreams.
Although the detailed, full-color art doesn’t anthropomorphize the protagonist (which readers will likely identify as a sled and not a sleigh), a close third-person text affords the object thoughts and feelings while assigning feminine pronouns. “She longed to become Santa’s big red sleigh,” reads an early line establishing the sleigh’s motivation to leave her Christmas-shop home for the North Pole. Other toys discourage her, but she perseveres despite creeping self-doubt. A train and truck help the sleigh along, and when she wishes she were big, fast, and powerful like them, they offer encouragement and counsel patience. When a storm descends after the sleigh strikes out on her own, an unnamed girl playing in the snow brings her to a group of children who all take turns riding the sleigh down a hill. When the girl brings her home, the sleigh is crestfallen she didn’t reach the North Pole. A convoluted happily-ever-after ending shows a note from Santa that thanks the sleigh for giving children joy and invites her to the North Pole next year. “At last she understood what she was meant to do. She would build her life up spreading joy, one child at a time.” Will she leave the girl’s house to be gifted to other children? Will she stay and somehow also reach ever more children? Readers will be left wondering. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 31.8% of actual size.)
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-72822-355-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
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