New-to-preschool tots will find a kindred spirit in both adventurous spirit and emotional development.
Billie B. Brown continues to learn preschool lessons in this trim, little series (Billie’s Underwater Adventure, 2016, etc.).
Billie doesn’t eat much breakfast, so her stomach is “growly and grumbly.” Luckily there is a brand new bakery stand in the classroom—made from a cardboard box—where she can bake delectable treats with her friends Jack and Emily (all three friends are white in this outing). There are many hungry toys waiting for a bite of something sweet. With a pinch of sugar, a few cups of flour, and a hefty dose of imagination, Billie and Jack make delicious “button buns” that the customers love. But Emily is jealous. So she whips up a three-tiered berry confection that leaves everyone in awe. Caught in a cycle of one-upmanship, Billie and Jack try to make “pinkle-dough muffins,” but instead of measuring carefully, they rush to be the best and end up with a pinkle-dough explosion instead. In a simultaneous publication, Billie’s Wild Jungle Adventure (2016), Billie and Jack get caught in another imaginative (yet not quite as much fun) escapade involving a pretend snake in the preschool’s backyard. Larger, italicized type in both volumes highlights intriguing vocabulary, and Billie never fails to have a “super-duper idea” to save the day.
New-to-preschool tots will find a kindred spirit in both adventurous spirit and emotional development. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-61067-554-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A successful swap from coconut tree to Christmas tree.
A Christmas edition of the beloved alphabet book.
The story starts off nearly identically to Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989), written by John Archambault and the late Bill Martin Jr, with the letters A, B, and C deciding to meet in the branches of a tree. This time, they’re attempting to scale a Christmas tree, not a coconut tree, and the letters are strung together like garland. A, B, and C are joined by the other letters, and of course they all “slip, slop, topple, plop!” right down the tree. At the bottom, they discover an assortment of gifts, all in a variety of shapes. As a team, the letters and presents organize themselves to get back up on the Christmas tree and get a star to the top. Holiday iterations of favorite tales often fall flat, but this take succeeds. The gifts are an easy way to reinforce another preschool concept—shapes—and the text uses just enough of the original to be familiar. The rhyming works, sticking to the cadence of the source material. The illustrations pay homage to the late Lois Ehlert’s, featuring the same bold block letters, though they lack some of the whimsy and personality of the original. Otherwise, everything is similarly brightly colored and simply drawn. Those familiar with the classic will be drawn to this one, but newcomers can enjoy it on its own.
A successful swap from coconut tree to Christmas tree. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781665954761
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
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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