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A YEAR FULL OF HOLIDAYS

Name: A YEAR FULL OF HOLIDAYS
Author: Susan Middleton Elya
ISBN: 978-0-399-23733-1

by Susan Middleton Elya & illustrated by Diana Cain Bluthenthal ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2010

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Young children who are always looking forward to the next holiday (and the adults they pester) will appreciate this one, as long as they are white Americans of the basically Judeo-Christian variety. To bouncy rhyming verse, readers follow five-year-old Nell from her birthday in August (since August lacks a holiday), through each month’s holidays and back again: Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, Father’s Day and the Fourth of July. Both the verses and Bluthenthal’s colorful illustrations reflect a return to the Leave-It-to-Beaver idea of families—a Caucasian Christian family with a Mom, Dad and one child, with celebrations that include extended family and friends. They also represent the traditional activities that go with each holiday—a barbecue for Labor Day, dyeing eggs for Easter and a parade on the Fourth of July. Preschool and kindergarten teachers will find this a tool of limited utility, as they will have to look elsewhere for holidays outside the Christian tradition and for alternative-family arrangements. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: May 1, 2010

ISBN: 978-0-399-23733-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: Dec. 30, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2010

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

- BOOK REVIEW
THE THREE BILLY GOATS BUENOS
by Susan Middleton Elya ; illustrated by Miguel Ordóñez

- BOOK REVIEW
MAYA PAPAYA AND HER AMIGOS PLAY DRESS-UP
by Susan Middleton Elya ; illustrated by Maria Mola

- BOOK REVIEW
OUR CELEBRACIÓN!
by Susan Middleton Elya ; illustrated by Ana Aranda

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TEN LITTLE FISH

by Audrey Wood & illustrated by Bruce Wood ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2004

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This charming, colorful counting tale of ten little fish runs full-circle. Although the light verse opens and closes with ten fish swimming in a line, page-by-page the line grows shorter as the number of fish diminishes one-by-one. One fish dives down, one gets lost, one hides, and another takes a nap until a single fish remains. Then along comes another fish to form a couple and suddenly a new family of little fish emerges to begin all over. Slick, digitally-created images of brilliant marine flora and fauna give an illusion of underwater depth and silence enhancing the verse’s numerical and theatrical progression. The holistic story bubbles with life’s endless cycle. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2004

ISBN: 0-439-63569-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Blue Sky/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2004

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FULL MOON AT THE NAPPING HOUSE
by Audrey Wood ; illustrated by Don Wood

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BIRTHDAY QUEEN
by Audrey Wood ; illustrated by Don Wood

- BOOK REVIEW
IT'S DUFFY TIME!
by Audrey Wood & illustrated by Don Wood

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YOUR BABY'S FIRST WORD WILL BE DADA

by Jimmy Fallon ; illustrated by Miguel Ordóñez ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 9, 2015

Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.

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A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.

A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.

Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)