McCourt and Moore (It’s Time for School, Stinky Face, 2000, etc.) continue their collaborative examination of one imaginative little boy with a major case of the “what-if’s,” the fourth in the successful series. This time the little boy called Stinky Face (who is actually quite sweet and clean) focuses his questions to his patient mother on the approaching Christmas holiday. The potential problems posed by Stinky Face begin realistically (too much snow, a melting snowman) and escalate rapidly into more fanciful fretfulness revolving around Santa’s imminent visit. Each question follows a “But what if . . . ” pattern, smoothly answered by the boy’s creative mother, who has a quick-witted, soothing solution for any worry, just like the mother rabbit in The Runaway Bunny. Moore’s lighthearted illustrations ground these worried musings in reality, with believable images that will help to explain some of unusual ideas (a coat rack Christmas tree, a reindeer with its antlers stuck in overhanging branches). One delightful product of Stinky Face’s imagination is the friendly Christmasaurus, a holly-covered dinosaur who stops by to help put lights on the house. What if the Christmasaurus came back for another visit in the next story? And what if she and Stinky Face took off in Santa’s sleigh? And what if they crash-landed in the Easter Bunny’s egg-painting factory? Just ask Stinky Face’s mom. She’ll come up with some clever solution. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-8167-7468-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Troll
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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