December Reviews

You're probably familiar with the classic folk tale of the three crafty traveling soldiers who trick a stingy villager into feeding them by asking for all the "extra ingredients" to make their famous stone soup (the travelers only provide the stone). Here, Compestine resets the story in her native China, having a trio of overworked, underappreciated brothers pull a similar scam on the greedy, lazy fisherman who employs them. In another twist, the book is narrated from the point of view of the villainous but oblivious fisherman. By paying close attention to the illustrations, kids can spot exactly how he's being duped, then giggle even more when he gets served his comeuppance.

As the former head writer of The Simpsons, author Reiss is no stranger to satire. In this delightfully clever book, he introduces readers to Christmas City, in the state of Texmas, where it's Christmas 364 days a year. The children of Christmas City, including our doe-eyed protagonist, Noelle, are so horribly tired of having to unwrap presents every single morning, so bored with the same huge turkey dinner every night. But they eagerly await August 16th, the one day a year on which they get to take down the lights, undecorate the tree, and stop watching holiday specials. They even get to go to school! Under the farcical surface, the true heart of this tale shines bright, making it the perfect antidote to traditional holiday saccharine.

Pierre is a fisherman rat who swoons over Catherine, the ballet-teacher bunny he watches from his boat while he works. But poor Pierre can't work up the courage to speak to the object of his affection, so he tries to win her over with gifts he pulls up from the ocean floor and leaves outside her door. Little does he know that Catherine is already in love with that handsome fisherman she watches every day from her classroom window. The entire tale is told in the melodramatic tones of foreign cinema, and the text practically begs to be read in an over-the-top French accent: "He could not eat; his favorite chowder tasted like paste, and cheeses he once loved lay in his mouth like stones." Pierre in Love is fun, strange (in the best sense), and even genuinely romantic.

When the author of The Handmaid's Tale and The Blind Assassin writes a picture book, expect something out of the ordinary. First off, the entire 32-page story is a tongue-twister; in an amazing feat of linguistic acrobatics, nearly every word of text begins with a b or a d (just as in the title). Then there's the tale itself: Bob, a boy whose parents forget his existence, is raised by a pack of stray dogs. Eventually, he's befriended by Dorinda, a Cinderella-like lass who runs away from her wicked foster family. Together, they save the town from a rampaging buffalo that is delivered to the botanical gardens after being mistakenly labeled a begonia. This might be a kid's book, but it's also very Atwood—except, thankfully, for its ultrahappy ending, which even includes the return of Dorinda's long-missing parents.