A merry stocking stuffer.
What will we find each night?
An advent calendar hangs on the wall: “The doors are fun to open. What could it be?” Decorations, toys, clothes, even food. It’s always a surprise. But no matter what’s inside, the refrain is the same: “Oh, I love traditions with my family!” The first-person narration is mostly a list of the found items, with some repetition, reminiscent of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” The charmingly rustic digital illustrations depict different families, diverse in terms of race and type, as the days progress along, with the items listed in groups of four. The depicted doors are symbolic, since most of the presents could never fit inside them (like a baby doll or roller skates). Upon reaching the 24th night, the text repeats the entire list with close-up images (perhaps so that very young readers can go back and spot ones they didn’t catch before). “Now all the doors are open, and you waited patiently….” At last, a pale-skinned Santa arrives bearing gifts on Christmas. The emotional beats of this little book are all ones of joy and wonder, while the practical beats center on opening presents (so many, in fact, that not much patience is required). The book is best used as a game itself, spotting all the items in the illustrations, along with an elf character hidden in each scene.
A merry stocking stuffer. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2026
ISBN: 9780063444232
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperPop/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Let these crayons go back into their box.
The Crayons return to celebrate Easter.
Six crayons (Red, Orange, Yellow, Esteban, who is green and wears a yellow cape, White, and Blue) each take a shape and scribble designs on it. Purple, perplexed and almost angry, keeps asking why no one is creating an egg, but the six friends have a great idea. They take the circle decorated with red shapes, the square adorned with orange squiggles “the color of the sun,” the triangle with yellow designs, also “the color of the sun” (a bit repetitious), a rectangle with green wavy lines, a white star, about which Purple remarks: “DID you even color it?” and a rhombus covered with blue markings and slap the shapes onto a big, light-brown egg. Then the conversation turns to hiding the large object in plain sight. The joke doesn’t really work, the shapes are not clear enough for a concept book, and though colors are delineated, it’s not a very original color book. There’s a bit of clever repartee. When Purple observe that Esteban’s green rectangle isn’t an egg, Esteban responds, “No, but MY GOSH LOOK how magnificent it is!” Still, that won’t save this lackluster book, which barely scratches the surface of Easter, whether secular or religious. The multimedia illustrations, done in the same style as the other series entries, are always fun, but perhaps it’s time to retire these anthropomorphic coloring implements. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Let these crayons go back into their box. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-62105-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Like marshmallow on top of caramel.
Little Bear loves everything about Christmas, but there’s one thing he loves even more.
The Bear household is busily getting ready for Christmas. Mommy Bear wraps and bakes; Daddy Bear brings home a humongous tree; Little Bear exults in it all. With each new Christmas tradition that’s introduced, from opening Christmas cards to receiving carolers, Little Bear sings a song that celebrates it. “I love ornaments, and garland, and lights on a string, / candy canes, stockings—and all of the things / that make Christmas perfect—oh, yes, I do! / But the thing that I love more than Christmas is—” But before Little Bear can complete his rhyme, each time he is interrupted by a new element of Christmas to celebrate. Since that terminal rhyme is always set up with one that ends with an “oo” sound, readers will not be surprised in the least when Mommy and Daddy interrupt him one last time with an emphatic “YOU!” It’s all so uber-idealized readers may find themselves gagging on the syrup—it even seems to get at Hattie: Daddy Bear’s smug “What an exceedingly talented family we are” has a whiff of irony to it. Warnes’ cartoon bears inhabit a cozy, middle-class home; while the carolers are clothed, the Bear family is not, but readers may notice a white marking on Mommy Bear’s chest where a string of pearls might rest.
Like marshmallow on top of caramel. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68010-208-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
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