The Easter Bunny's Assistant

Color me impressed! 

THREE PROS

*Love the characters, love the vibrant illustrations (complete with the full Easter palette), and love the stinky skunk humor component  

*How can you go wrong with a story that acts as a built-in instruction manual for a fun family activity
*Many kids in 2013 might not get the clothespin reference, but parents sure will giggle

THREE CONS 

*Would have expected the Easter Bunny to be wearing something that makes him identifiable from the rest of his bunny brethren 
*Wish there was another way to get the skunk out of the room that didn't involve pushing 

*It's a coin flip, but I would argue that hiding the eggs should be a numbered step in the process

ONE DAD'S OPINION
I see no reason to walk on eggshells before revealing my rating.  When you're Buying your yolks and dye kit supplies this weekend, grab a copy of TEBA as well.  Jan Thomas has crafted a product almost as essential to the holiday as the Cadbury egg.  You and your peeps will enjoy it for years to come...      

BUY / Borrow / Donate / Destroy

The Dragon In The Christmas Tree

No wonder that tree was a little bit heavier this year! 

THREE PROS

*I've looked at a number of small batch publishing options over the years, and I think I've finally found a winner (Bang Printing)  

*I'm usually a sucker for books that add in a sprinkle of magic, and this one does it in spades
*For anyone whose family has experienced displacement due to a natural disaster, a story like this can be really uplifting

THREE CONS 

*Patrick W. Ledray and illustrator Kim Gordon craft a beautiful story, albeit one that is about three pages longer than it probably needed to be 
*Entirely too much napping on the part of the dragon, in my opinion 

*I asked two almost-four-year-olds what they thought of it, and, while they both said they liked it, they didn't jump to that conclusion immediately

ONE DAD'S OPINION
A truly original work, no doubt; but the hardest thing for me to reconcile is that it's not really a holiday story at all (although I decided to include it in my list of holiday books given the title).  Sure, you've got the tree, presents, stockings, et al; but the plot, at its core, did not need to be tied to these elements.  As much as I liked TDITCT, it was that loose Christmas association that seemed to muddle it up for me and the kids I was reading it with.  Normally, the combination of the three cons above plus my previous point would give me the burning desire to call it a Donate.  However, this dragon has enough fire in its belly to earn a Borrow.      

Buy / BORROW / Donate / Destroy

Lionel's Christmas Adventure

What other book would I review on December 25th? 

THREE PROS

*Lionel's North Pole visit teaches him (and your kids too) a valuable lesson about people's varied experiences during the holidays (for more insight into this, check out this recent article I found on the Washington Post site)   

*Big fan of the main character not getting the thing he wanted all along -- some lesser authors would have had him learn the key lesson, then followed it up with a perceived double happy ending
*I liked how Paul Hewlett didn't feel the need to automatically switch to inner voice every time a noteworthy detail was revealed in quoted conversation, but rather let the exchanges play out

THREE CONS 

*If you've written previous installments on the life of a character, that doesn't mean you can ignore repeating things like time period, his/her age, etc -- I only learned these details after finishing the book by scouring the Internet for author interviews 
*This mysterious (adjective-laden name shortened for my own sanity) Walbaun foot obviously plays a huge role in Lionel's world, but, like the items I highlighted above, I have no idea how he acquired it -- oh, and it's a weird phrase, to boot 

*If you're gonna self-publish, you can't have grammatical errors on the back cover -- ironically, my perfunctory Google search found one instance of Hewlett mentioning the value of proofreaders (I'd like their names so that I don't use them when I write my own material)

ONE DAD'S OPINION
When I received my copy of LCA in the mail, I thought, "uh oh, this might be awful."  It had the same look to it as some other self-published stuff I have seen over the years that totally missed the mark.  It's tough to explain, but it usually involves a combination of fonts and artwork on the cover that would be on an endcap at Dollar Tree if publishing operated more like the retail world.  Still, energized by Christmas spirit, I eagerly dove into the forty or so pages to confirm my hunch.  And you know what?  It wasn't half bad.  If your child can make it to the end, there's some really good stuff in those last few pages.  Overall, LCA is not a book I would ever pay for (even though the price is VERY reasonable), yet it might be worth snagging from a friend after Thanksgiving break for a one-time refresher course on what the holidays are really all about. 

Buy / BORROW / Donate / Destroy

Frosty The Snowman

I think we can all agree that Santa is the President of Christmas, but I'd argue his running mate is this guy right here... 

THREE PROS

*There's something just cool about retro illustration from when my dad was a kid  

*How can you not like the policeman's quick thinking, goldspun storytelling, and awesome rhyming
*Comes with its very own song that almost everyone can remember (although it's not included in the book)

THREE CONS 

*Not sure why that last page needed to reiterate the message from the one previous to it -- especially by saying something as ominous as "and he will" 
*Because the story is over sixty years old, it might seem a little anachronistic in its lack of diversity and word choice (did you know coasting was a synonym for sledding, cuz I sure didn't) 

*Frosty somehow keeps the kids warm in his presence; which is a nice sentiment until you think about the number of ways kids already ignore the elements in wintertime (I don't need ours catching colds because they built their own 'magical' snowman, as cute as it may sound)

ONE DAD'S OPINION
First, let me point out that I am reviewing the Frosty printed by Golden Books decades ago that has the cover art shown below. It's not as easy to find as other books on my site, but there are plenty of copies out there on things like Etsy.  Obviously, the odds of you grabbing anything close to 'like-new' are miniscule, but that shouldn't matter too much since the years of weathering only adds more character to the illustrations.  Why did I just spend three sentences on this subject?  Because, even though I've never seen them, I have to believe that the newer versions of the tale won't have the same wholesome feel that you'll get with this one.  It's just so darn halcyonic!  And (unlike anything Santa-related), Frosty is appropriate all winter long, making him an almost certain Buy, even if it's a story/song you've heard a million times.      

BUY / Borrow / Donate / Destroy

Christ's Cake

Howza bout a little slice of religion for dessert? 

THREE PROS

*Everyone needs a little more G-d in their life, I suppose  

*Kind of cool how the illustrator, Lon Eric Craven, piled each of Jackson's five birthday cakes on top of each other in the dream sequence
*I altered the way the kid hurt himself (he trips and falls on flat ground and breaks his arm) so it could be an instructive way to teach my son not to play on the stairs in our house

THREE CONS 

*There's just no way around saying it:  Carolyn Snelling was inspired to teach kids about Jesus and crafted a children's story around this goal instead of writing something that organically got there 
*Whoa, whoa, whoa -- the kid forgot his words on stage, mutters some non-sequitur about the cake he made, and the audience cheers -- while it isn't inconceivable that parents would support a five-year-old who says something random at an inopportune time, it's also not something that should be praised (assuming you don't want your son getting swirlied in the boys' bathroom every week) 

*I wasn't quite sure why Jackson felt that accidentally breaking his arm would cause JC to not love him as much -- if the point was to demonstrate that JC loves everyone regardless of their actions, I would have had Jackson DO something bad, not HAVE something bad happen to him

ONE DAD'S OPINION
Let me be the first to say that I shouldn't have agreed to reviewing something with such an obviously religious title.  I don't think I will ever fully share the mindset or life experiences of the target audience.  So, please take my rating with a grain of sugar.  That said, it's just wasn't that interesting a book.  For those of you offended by me saying this, let me beg you to remove the Christ component from it and then ask yourself whether this cake would taste nearly as sweet.  Probably not, right? Now try paying $22 for such a 'delicacy'.  Almost a sin, wouldn't you say?  [I'm all for authors making a buck, but c'mon, 22 dollars for something that looks self-published (even if it's not)!]  In conclusion, CC was teetering on the brink of being a Destroy, but a higher power instructed me to give it the benefit of the doubt. 

Buy / Borrow / DONATE / Destroy

Ants In Your Pants, Worms In Your Plants!

Full disclosure: As a member of the DC Green Party, my review might be overly influenced by the planet-loving theme.  In other words, I'm Erik and I approve of Diane deGroat's message. 

THREE PROS

*Not only is that message strong, but it is detailed -- there are numerous examples of life changes we can all undertake to become better residents of Earth  

*My favorite spread in the book has to be the discussion on composting since it involves worms, worms pooping, and multiple opportunities to say the words "Eewww" and "Pee-you"
*I found the usage of thought bubbles filled with white space to be an amusing way to depict being in a creative rut 

THREE CONS 

*The beginning few pages made me think I was embarking on another boring school adventure with characters I would hate -- thankfully this notion ended once they kids left the classroom  
*Maybe it's just hard for illustrators to get me to like anthropomorphic animals that are drawn rather realistically (rather than cartoon-y) -- and the lead character is the freakiest of all 

*While it doesn't really matter, I found it slightly annoying that the author assumed we knew which first names corresponded to which animals (on the bright side, it did give me and my boy an extra activity to undertake while reading)

ONE DAD'S OPINION
So my wife (who has been making a lot of appearances on this blog of late) picked this one out last week.  When I saw the cover picture, I've gotta tell you, I was not excited.  The combination of Gilbert's countenance and a lame-o title made me avoid it for a few solid days.  But tonight my son brought it over to me personally and asked me to read it (on World Read Aloud Day, no less).  How could I say no to that?!  By page three, my opinion hadn't changed much, but as things went on, I really started to appreciate what deGroat was doing.  As soon as we reached the final page, I knew I had a Buy in my hands, albeit not one of my favorite books to earn this designation.  If you are just starting a child's collection of picture books, I would not include this one on the list (especially if you are budget-conscious).  However, if you're even half as book crazy as me, I'm giving you the green light to drop the $17 on this joint.  Oh, one last thing.  Allow me to clarify why this book is listed under my Holiday category... it's because AIYPWIYP pays homage to Earth Day.  [Although it would have been nice to see a mention of the actual date, even if it was on a poster in the background.]  If anyone's interested, I will be celebrating 2012's event by helping to clean up parks around the US Capitol.  I'd be more than happy to drop a few ants in your pants if you stop by and say hi!    

BUY / Borrow / Donate / Destroy

St. Patrick's Day

Time to turn our attention to the next holiday on the calendar... 

THREE PROS

*Mother/daughter team Anne and Lizzy Rockwell took the easy road by producing a series of holiday-themed titles (including this one), but at least they did a decent job with it  

*The two-page interlude that detailed the origin story of Saint Patrick was slightly forced (especially when compared with the creative way they explained him driving the snakes from Ireland), but it was nice to see the Rockwells inject a little substance in with the culinary and color oriented stuff
*Will help your son or daughter get why so many people are wearing green on March 17th

THREE CONS 

*If I was a kid, the two things I would want to hear the most about would be leprechauns and four-leaf clovers, in that order -- consequently, I was disappointed to see that hardly any time was devoted to these two topics (I understand neither is central to the holiday, but still) 
*Maybe it's just me, but the book seemed to give off the impression that St. Patrick's Day is celebrated across the country by everyone; as opposed to the more accurate truth that, in America, it's THE day for people of Irish descent and one of THE days for festive and pseudo-festive people to get a little crrrazy 

*Did Mr. Siscoe really have to have a ponytail

ONE DAD'S OPINION
I've seen enough here to consider Borrowing another book from the Rockwell's Mrs. Madoff holiday story collection.  You know what cinched it for me?  Illustrator Lizzy's great taste in color schemes... not only do the images pop off the page of SPD, but she also chose virtually the same two shades of green and yellow as the anchors for her professional website as you see on your favorite blog right here:)  Hey, I may be a little egotistical but I'd like to think I'm more honest than anything else!    

Buy / BORROW / Donate / Destroy

A Giant Crush

A Giant Crush will not be getting a valentine from me anytime soon. 

THREE PROS

*Melissa Sweet and Gennifer Choldenko, if nothing else, fill a niche in the picture book market by choosing a topic that is, frankly, difficult to tackle  

*The little girls' reactions to their classmates' bunny love was spot-on
*I did like the anticipation Choldenko built by delaying the reveal of where the flower went

THREE CONS 

*Keeping track of the bunnies names was a real chore, especially since three of the four main characters' names started with the letter 'C' (technically, there were four 'C' names since one bunny was named Carter Corey... by the way, I could sit here for an hour and wouldn't be able to think up a more awful name) 
*Not a fan of Choldenko's decision to have Cooper tell the story from his perspective (she probably did it to limit the quote attributions) -- maybe AGC could have been better if she figured out a way to tell it using fewer quotes in the first place 

*Yes, the occasional tiny tot with a Napoleon Complex will make fun of the really tall kid in class, but, from my experience, being blessed in the height department is rarely a bad thing, even in elementary school

ONE DAD'S OPINION
Went and got a haircut today.  I asked for a "two" clipper all the way around.  How that took 45 minutes is beyond me, but that's another story.  During her fourth pass over the left side of my head, we got to talking about Valentine's Day.  Since neither of us have plans that will make romantic history, I won't bore you with the details.  Nonetheless, I did take it as a sign that tonight was predestined to be the night that I would write my review of this book.  So here goes...  First of all, let me say that there should be a disclaimer on the front that warns parents not to bother with it for kids under five.  [I guess the title should have given it away, but still.] The whole concept of crushes was completely lost on my almost three-year-old.  For argument's sake, I pretended that I had a boy twice his age to see if that would help.  It really didn't.  A Giant Crush has about as much of a chance of staying in my home as six-year-old me had of kissing a girl in my all-male first grade class.    

Buy / Borrow / DONATE / Destroy

Santa Claws

Before you read any further, please recognize that the book I'm reviewing today is not standard shelf fare...    

THREE PROS

*I was pleasantly surprised to see that, despite living in a gross and scary world, the youthful ghouls were rewarded for being good (I would have given you two to one odds that the opposite would be true) 
*Even in the most disgusting of circumstances, the author still tries to hammer home the importance of a proper bedtime hygiene ritual

*The fake ads on the inside and back covers are quite funny and also help to set the mood for the story

THREE CONS 

*I've said it before and I'll say it again -- the darker side of illustration is really not my cup of tea; although I have no problem admitting superior artistic talent when I see it 

*Mack seems taller than his brother on every page but the one where they are in their bunk beds
*Why does every character seemingly have to have baleen whale teeth

ONE DAD'S OPINION
If you wanted to assemble an all-star duo of macabre children's lit greats, this pair would be almost impossible to vanquish.  Gris Grimly has a cult following that stretches all the way to Hollywood, while Laura Leuck has cast her spell on about a dozen books in this genre over the years.  As expected, these two added all the right ingredients when mixing their potion for a perfect spooky holiday story.  I'm fairly confident that Santa Claws will provide enough magic to keep Frankenstein and his bride (aka: the adults under your roof) entertained.  The question you have to ask yourself is whether you really want your child to consume this elixir.  I don't think my son's ready for it at 2.5 years old, but that's not to say another kid his age wouldn't be.  Likewise, there might be many parents who would avoid exposing it to their little monsters altogether.  Only you can make the final decision; but if you're feeling a little bit spooky, than you should Buy it.

BUY / Borrow / Donate / Destroy

Let's Get Ready For Christmas

All of the negative things about Christmas, accidentally condensed into one handy hardcover edition.                     

THREE PROS

*Santa-less books are tougher to come by this time of year; so if you want a staid, bare bones description of the holiday in question, this falls in that category    

*Baby Jesus sighting -- check

*True, the table of contents accurately details what page numbers things will happen on -- but it's totally unnecessary

THREE CONS 

*Let's see:  the text, pictures, and message are worse than a regurgitated lump of coal in your stocking -- think that pretty much covers it 

*Bah humbug for including an unaffiliated followup website that is full of banner ads (couldn't the publisher resist trying to capitalize on our little ones)

*Is the family setting up the Christmas tree on December 25th (no one does that, right?) or do they just happen to all wear the same clothes every day of the year

ONE DAD'S OPINION

It is so obvious that Joanne Winne could care less about creating something unique and fun to inspire kids.  This former teacher of nine years (seriously, that's the extent of her bio other than where she lived in 2001) is not trying to win Newberrys; she's trying to get paid.  How else can you explain her entire catalog being dedicated to similarly titled series of books about holidays, colors, geography, and professions?  She's more commercialized than Christmas, if that's possible.  My guess is that I would Destroy every single book of hers that might come in front of me, but today we're just focusing on this one.  Picture the worst gift you have ever gotten.  Now recall the emotions surrounding the moment after the wrapping paper was removed, then double it.  Thankfully, my library has a generous return policy...                    

Buy / Borrow / Donate / DESTROY