Fa La La

October 1, 2012

PreS-In this bright and cheerful board book with minimal text, Baby helps Mom and Dad pick out and decorate a Christmas tree, creates and destroys a gingerbread house, and visits Santa with mixed results. All in all, it's a typical and happy Christmas for Baby-and for the youngest listeners, who will giggle at Baby singing along with carolers ("LA LA LA LA!") on the front porch, clad only in a diaper and wearing bunny slippers.-Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

A cute, diaper-clad baby celebrates his first Christmas with Mommy and Daddy in this latest addition to Patricelli's growing list of distinctively different board books. Wearing a Santa hat, the baby cavorts with the family cat on the cover and then moves on to all the traditional Christmas preparations: unpacking decorations, picking out a tree, making presents, visiting Santa and singing Christmas carols. Each activity has just a short phrase or simple sentence of descriptive text, told in first person by the exuberant baby. Humor, both subtle and slapstick, abounds, with some jokes for young children and some for the adults reading aloud. When the baby sloppily decorates a gingerbread house with Daddy, the next page shows the baby gleefully squashing the whole house ("Boom!"). A visit to Santa Claus provides a hilarious sequence in cartoon-frame panels of the baby pulling Santa's beard and then dissolving in tears, which quickly resolve into a smile for the camera. Babies will enjoy the bright colors and funny baby character, toddlers will enjoy the simple humor, and older preschoolers will enjoy the more subtle comedy conveyed by the witty illustrations. Even Scrooge himself couldn't resist this cheerful Christmas cherub. (Board book. 1-4) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2013
Patricelli's baby character returns, here excited that Christmas is on the way. Our narrator describes picking out a tree, hand-crafting some gifts (e.g., a Scotch Tape necklace for Mommy), caroling, and eagerly awaiting Santa's arrival. As always, Patricelli's straightforward text tells only part of the story. Her vibrant illustrations fill in the rest by adding lots of personality and humor.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)