It’s a night out at the opera for Mommy and Daddy while their demanding, somewhat overly imaginative preschooler is apprehensive about staying home with babysitter, Sarah. Numerous attempts at foreshadowing drastic results, negotiating deals, and retreating to the safety of her bedroom have no effect. An anxious “Goodbye, Mommy!” and “Goodbye, Daddy!” bring out this little girl’s true feelings: “Don’t forget to come back!” Large and sometimes-oversized watercolor/ink-lined drawings illustrate the youngster’s dire predictions and fears with ballooned dialogue amidst a culturally oriented middle-class home. Harris confidently portrays the rest of the evening as “Silly Sarah” shares pepperoni and pineapple pizza, encourages wearing clown makeup and painting toenails, and reads a cool monster bedtime story to her sleepy charge. Morning brings an affectionate reunion as Mommy and Daddy are informed of the evening’s events from one preschooler’s perspective. “The South Pole is too cold / Sarah is so-ooo silly! / And she didn’t let a single moose in the house.” An amusing, sophisticated look at an age-old concern, reflecting the emotions of separation anxiety through the eyes of a verbal, assertive child. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-7636-1782-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2004
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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A little red sleigh has big Christmas dreams.
Although the detailed, full-color art doesn’t anthropomorphize the protagonist (which readers will likely identify as a sled and not a sleigh), a close third-person text affords the object thoughts and feelings while assigning feminine pronouns. “She longed to become Santa’s big red sleigh,” reads an early line establishing the sleigh’s motivation to leave her Christmas-shop home for the North Pole. Other toys discourage her, but she perseveres despite creeping self-doubt. A train and truck help the sleigh along, and when she wishes she were big, fast, and powerful like them, they offer encouragement and counsel patience. When a storm descends after the sleigh strikes out on her own, an unnamed girl playing in the snow brings her to a group of children who all take turns riding the sleigh down a hill. When the girl brings her home, the sleigh is crestfallen she didn’t reach the North Pole. A convoluted happily-ever-after ending shows a note from Santa that thanks the sleigh for giving children joy and invites her to the North Pole next year. “At last she understood what she was meant to do. She would build her life up spreading joy, one child at a time.” Will she leave the girl’s house to be gifted to other children? Will she stay and somehow also reach ever more children? Readers will be left wondering. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 31.8% of actual size.)
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-72822-355-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 18, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
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Dot, the smallest reindeer at the North Pole, is too little to fly with the reindeer team on Christmas Eve, but she helps Santa in a different, unexpected way.
Dot is distressed because she can’t jump and fly like the other, bigger reindeer. Her family members encourage her and help her practice her skills, and her mother tells her, “There’s always next year.” Dot’s elf friend, Oliver, encourages her and spends time playing with her, doing things that Dot can do well, such as building a snowman and chasing their friend Yeti (who looks like a fuzzy, white gumdrop). On Christmas Eve, Santa and the reindeer team take off with their overloaded sleigh. Only Dot notices one small present that’s fallen in the snow, and she successfully leaps into the departing sleigh with the gift. This climactic flying leap into the sleigh is not adequately illustrated, as Dot is shown just starting to leap and then already in the sleigh. A saccharine conclusion notes that being little can sometimes be great and that “having a friend by your side makes anything possible.” The story is pleasant but predictable, with an improbably easy solution to Dot’s problem. Illustrations in a muted palette are similarly pleasant but predictable, with a greeting-card flavor that lacks originality. The elf characters include boys, girls, and adults; all the elves and Santa and Mrs. Claus are white.
A forgettable tale. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-338-15738-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 21, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
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