A fun—and kinder—reinvention of an old tale.
A badger eager to brighten her winter learns the value of preparation (and good friends) in Doherty’s picture book.
In this spin on the fable of the grasshopper and the ants, Badger is getting ready for the snowy season; she “didn’t want to suffer through another dull, dark winter.” She travels to town in search of something bright. There, she discovers a kaleidoscope—a Twist-a-Roo—that captivates her imagination. Eager to share it, she visits Porcupine and Beaver, both of whom are too busy with their winter preparations. Badger is so distracted by her desire to share the Twist-a-Roo’s beauty that she makes gifts instead of preparing for the coming chill. As she works, winter arrives, and she’s cold and hungry—until her friends show up with supplies, eager for some beauty to chase away the winter blues. Doherty balances Badger’s foolishness with her kindheartedness. She isn’t just avoiding work; she wants to share something wonderful with her friends. The community’s acknowledgment of beauty’s value is a wonderful counterpoint to the traditional fable, and their willingness to help their friend in order to share that beauty gives it a much happier ending. Litten’s illustrations blend cartoons and painted images to depict a delightful host of woodland creatures; the word-to-text ratio makes each page approachable for independent readers.
A fun—and kinder—reinvention of an old tale.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781682634974
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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