Like a dash of sweetened wishes.
On the eve of Nochebuena, a sugar figurine in a bake shop sprinkles a little magic to save a Navidad-themed cake.
As night sweeps over the town, the fading golden sunlight falls upon a sugar figurine named Esperanza, “caked in dust and long forgotten.” She awakens, twirling over to a festive holiday cake as a cat observes. The figurines on the cake remain still until Esperanza shares her sunlight. A singer, a guitarist, and a violinist bring forth music, mugs of punch with sugarcane and cinnamon sticks slip into eager hands, and Christmas blossoms are handed out to the figurine kids. Quite suddenly, the enthusiastic cat joins in, toppling over the Christmas tree atop the cake. A stunned silence fills the air. Is all hope lost? Esperanza and the other sugar figurines begin a long night’s work, readying the cake for the holiday festivities to come. Inspired by her abuelita, a gifted baker, Valenti whips up a delectable tale of whimsical enchantment, with Spanish sprinkled throughout. Occasionally addressing readers directly, her narration has a lyrical feel, like a Christmas fairy tale. Chavarri’s effervescent artwork offers an appealing depiction of Navidad, with all its baked-in promises of magic. Esperanza and the other figures are brown-skinned; guests at the Navidad party are diverse and cued as Latine. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Like a dash of sweetened wishes. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
ISBN: 9780593488676
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Aug. 23, 2023
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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