Goes down easily for those youngsters who are similarly frightened, and Peep’s corny jokes should be added to every...
Peep and Egg are back, and this time big sibling Peep is trying to convince Egg to go trick-or-treating.
The younger sib is having none of it. Peep tries to walk Egg through the stops they will make trick-or-treating, but each costume seen gives Egg the shivers, and the little yellow chick’s various poses and facial expressions eloquently speak of both stubbornness and fear: wings crossed, eyes wide with eyebrows raised, wings over the ears (do chicks have ears?), and eyes shut tight. But Peep doesn’t give up easily. The older chick tries jokes to loosen up Egg, but they are not enough to convince Egg to go trick-or-treating. But when Peep finally gives up and walks away, Egg is left in the dark, spooky eyes all around, and that’s enough to change Egg’s mind. Peep graciously welcomes Egg, and the two make the rounds together, as a butterfly and a caterpillar. Wan’s seemingly digital illustrations use bold black lines filled with color and only a few added details to keep the focus on the characters, who are pleasantly rounded and easily recognizable farm animals with simple line-and-oval facial features that show remarkable range of emotion. While Egg seems none the worse for it, it’s too bad Peep’s solution involved abandoning Egg.
Goes down easily for those youngsters who are similarly frightened, and Peep’s corny jokes should be added to every repertoire. (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-374-30122-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Cookie-cutter predictability.
After all the daring escapes in the How To Catch… series, will the kids be able to catch Santa?
Oddly, previous installments saw the children trying (and failing) to catch an elf and a reindeer, but both are easily captured in this story. Santa, however, is slippery. Tempted but not fooled by poinsettias, a good book (attached to a slingshot armed with a teddy bear projectile), and, of course, milk and cookies, Santa foils every plan. The hero in a red suit has a job to do. Presents must be placed, and lists must be checked. He has no time for traps and foolery (except if you’re the elf, who falls for every one of them). Luckily, Santa helps the little rascal escape each time. Little is new here—the kids resort to similar snares found in previous works: netting, lures, and technological wonders such as the Santa Catcher 5000. Although the rhythm falters quite a bit (“How did we get out you ask? / It looked like we were done for. / Santa’s magic is very real, / and I cannot reveal more”), fans of the series may not mind. Santa and Christmas just might be enough to overcome the flaws. Santa and the elf are light-skinned, one of the children is brown-skinned, and the other presents as Asian. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Cookie-cutter predictability. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781728274270
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2023
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BOOK REVIEW
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