There are many excellent parodies of the famous Christmas poem available, and this one isn’t particularly novel or hilarious.
This parody of “The Night Before Christmas” has a zoo setting, with an orangutan called Oranga Claus as Santa’s counterpart.
The cover shows the orangutan in his loaded sleigh midflight, but instead of reindeer, the sleigh is pulled by zebras. As the story opens with the traditional words, the focus is on the zookeeper, a middle-aged white man with glasses, hanging stockings in preparation for Oranga Claus. The zoo animals are sound asleep, “cuddled together” in a congenial cluster, with the monkeys tucked up in tree-hung beds, dreaming “of yummy bananas that danced in their heads.” The zebra-drawn sleigh arrives, and Oranga Claus distributes gifts for all. The orangutan wears a too-small vest and shorts, setting up the concluding punch line of the story when Oranga Claus calls out a farewell phrase to the zookeeper, “Ooka moo moo la goo.” The zookeeper repeats this phrase to the animals on Christmas morning, thinking it means, “Merry Christmas to you.” The final page shows Oranga Claus opening his own Christmas gift of a larger suit of clothes, with the true meaning of his words: “My clothes are too tight.” The parody holds together and is mildly humorous in its own way, with bright, cartoon-style illustrations of smiling zoo animals and the decorated zoo providing a determinedly jolly setting.
There are many excellent parodies of the famous Christmas poem available, and this one isn’t particularly novel or hilarious. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4556-2154-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Pelican
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2016
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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