Return to the Hundred Acre Wood
Author: David Benedictus
It was eighty years ago, on the publication of The House at Pooh Corner, when Christopher Robin said good-bye to Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood. Now they are all back in new adventures, for the first time approved by the Trustees of the Pooh Properties. This is a companion volume that truly captures the style of A. A. Milne-a worthy sequel to The House at Pooh Corner and Winnie-the-Pooh.
Booklist
[A] warm jumble of happy memories. It's both surprising and comforting that tales of such soft tenderness are still relevant.
Book review: Leading with Questions or First in Last out
The Gingerbread Pirates
Author: Kristin Kladstrup
What if a brave Captain Cookie stood up to Santa? A fresh, funny story that sparkles with all the excitement of a pirate adventure — and all the magic of Christmas morning.
It’s Christmas Eve, and Jim and his mother are making pirate gingerbread men to leave for Santa. Jim’s favorite is Captain Cookie, who carries a gingerbread cutlass and has a toothpick peg leg. The captain is much too good to be eaten, so Jim keeps him close by his bed. But late that night, when Jim is fast asleep, Captain Cookie steptaps away on a daring adventure to find his pirate crew — and rescue them from that mysterious character he’s heard about: a cannibal named Santa Claus. At once contemporary and timeless, suspenseful and joyous, this masterfully illustrated tale is destined to be a new holiday classic.
Publishers Weekly
A boy makes a gingerbread pirate crew on Christmas Eve; his mom leaves most of the pirates for Santa, but the boy takes the captain to his room. As the boy sleeps, the captain—sporting a ruffled shirt made of icing and a toothpick peg leg—makes his way downstairs (“Where's my crew? he wondered. And who's this Santa Claus who wants to eat them?”). Luckily, Santa ends up being a friend who gives the pirates a ship of their own. Swashbuckling gusto and a poignant finish should make this a new favorite. Ages 4–10. (Sept.)
School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 3–After Jim and his mother bake pirate gingerbread men for Santa’s snack, toothpick-legged Captain Cookie undertakes a daring rescue of his crew from the hungry–but understanding–Santa Claus, who works a magical transformation. When Jim awakes Christmas morning, he finds under the Christmas tree not only a magnificent toy pirate ship, but also a peg-legged captain and crew onboard. An exciting story and full-page, dramatically composed paintings depicting harrowing adventures with a mouse, a cat, and the crew imprisoned in a cookie jar make this a good holiday read-aloud.–Maureen Wade, Los Angeles Public Library
Kirkus Reviews
Captain Cookie is a gingerbread pirate, leader of a batch of buccaneer cookies baked by a boy named Jim and his mom. On Christmas Eve, a plate of the gingerbread pirates is left out for Santa, and Captain Cookie tries to save his men before they are eaten. When Santa arrives, he promises not to eat the pirates and shows them what he has left under the tree: a pirate ship. Captain Cookie and his men take over the ship, and during the night they are transformed by Christmas magic into toy pirates to complete Jim's Christmas present. Illustrator Tavares handles this transformation subtly, and children will enjoy marking the switch from cookie to toy. An extra-large format makes this a fine choice for reading aloud to a group. (Picture book. 3-6)
No comments:
Post a Comment