No matter where your valentine is, skip.
Another holiday joins the publisher’s series of state-specific books.
As with the Halloween-themed The Spooky Express Texas (2017), though, this one is neither specific enough to engage Texans nor fascinating/informative enough to engage those outside the Lone Star State. (The series includes books for 24 states and Canada, as well as the all-purpose I Love My Valentine.) While almost every spread points out a specific city or landmark, the illustrations are generic, and taken out of context, most will be nigh unrecognizable. The line breaks (and meter) in the rhyming verses may make it difficult to read aloud, and the arbitrarily capped words are distracting. Two children in a canoe (it’s tethered, but they are sans life jackets) beside Padre Island illustrate “You’re my SWEETIE, / my dear, my SMILE / and my laughter. / You’re my PLAYMATE for always, / and my JOY ever after.” This last includes some concepts that may go over the heads of the book’s target audience. The digital artwork is superbright, employing valentine colors, and it features romantic animal couples as well as a racially diverse bunch of kids. While the kids are enjoying each other’s company, the hearts and butterflies between them (all but two seem to be male/female pairs) emphasize romantic love rather than the more age-appropriate basics of being a good friend. Every spread save one features at least one child of color, and the final spread includes a child in a wheelchair.
No matter where your valentine is, skip. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4926-5981-5
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2017
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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