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
Not enough tricks to make this a treat.
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)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories.
Kids know vegetables can be scary, but rarely are edible roots out to get someone. In this whimsical mock-horror tale, carrots nearly frighten the whiskers off Jasper Rabbit, an interloper at Crackenhopper Field.
Jasper loves carrots, especially those “free for the taking.” He pulls some in the morning, yanks out a few in the afternoon, and comes again at night to rip out more. Reynolds builds delicious suspense with succinct language that allows understatements to be fully exploited in Brown’s hilarious illustrations. The cartoon pictures, executed in pencil and then digitally colored, are in various shades of gray and serve as a perfectly gloomy backdrop for the vegetables’ eerie orange on each page. “Jasper couldn’t get enough carrots … / … until they started following him.” The plot intensifies as Jasper not only begins to hear the veggies nearby, but also begins to see them everywhere. Initially, young readers will wonder if this is all a product of Jasper’s imagination. Was it a few snarling carrots or just some bathing items peeking out from behind the shower curtain? The ending truly satisfies both readers and the book’s characters alike. And a lesson on greed goes down like honey instead of a forkful of spinach.
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0297-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
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