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THE STOCKING STUFFER

Name: THE STOCKING STUFFER
Author: Holley Merriweather
ISBN: 978-0-06-314207-7

by Holley Merriweather ; illustrated by Stephanie Graegin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 20, 2022

Small amusement.

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A tiny helper’s moment to shine.

It’s Christmas Eve, and Santa is almost ready to go. When double-checking his list, he’s surprised and delighted that there’s no one on the Naughty List this year. But that means that Santa and the elves will need to deliver more toys than ever. A mouse who lives in the reindeer’s barn, who has always wanted to help Santa and his crew, tells Santa that with so much work, someone needs to oversee the stockings so they aren’t forgotten. Santa agrees, and he and the mouse, Tinsel (nicknamed Tiny Tin), set off on their circumnavigating sleigh ride. Dressed in a miniature Santa outfit, Tinsel walks along the mantle of the first house and slides trinkets and sweets into each family member’s stocking, even leaving a special treat for a local mouse. Though this tale is sweet, there’s little new here. It’s yet another tale—and a fairly low-stakes one at that—where a character saves Christmas; plus, it’s similar in poetic structure to Clement C. Moore’s famous “A Visit From St. Nicholas.” Still, it does offer the opportunity for a new holiday tradition, as the little mouse tells readers to write both Santa’s and Tinsel’s names on their Christmas letters next year. Though digital, Graegin’s illustrations have a hand-drawn look and a 1940s-1950s feel. Santa is light-skinned, while the elves vary in skin tone. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Small amusement. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2022

ISBN: 978-0-06-314207-7

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

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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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HOW TO CATCH A WITCH

by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 2, 2022

Not enough tricks to make this a treat.

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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)