Maggie Kneen

In this beautifully-illustrated picture-book presentation of the popular Christmas carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas, artist Maggie Kneen creates a wonderfully interactive extravaganza. Each of the two-page spreads (there are six) feature two verses of the carol on the left-hand side, and a "revolving picture" illustrations on the right. The illustrations at first shows the gift mentioned in the first of the verses on the opposite side, but when one pulls the ribbon of the tab underneath that illustration, from left to right, the illustrations changes to reveal the gift mentioned in the second of the two verses opposite.

I managed to track down a copy of The Twelve Days of Christmas: A Revolving Picture Book at my library, and I'm glad I did. I wasn't sure that I'd enjoy it, given my indifferent reaction to Kneen's The Very Special Valentine, but as my Goodreads friend Hilary rated it so highly, I decided to give it a try. I found this a delightful little book, with beautiful artwork and an innovative design sure to please young children looking for more interactive Christmas titles. My favorite, of the revolving picture pairs, was the one devoted to the three French hens and four calling birds, probably because the first illustration included wintry cottages in the background:



That said, the depictions of the nine drummers drumming, ten pipers piping, eleven ladies dancing and twelve lords a-leaping were also lovely, and reminded me of medieval tapestries I have seen. All in all, a worthy addition to my Christmas carols shelf - thank you, Hilary, for bringing it to my attention!… (mere)

Little Bunny Gray is determined to find the perfect Valentine for his special friend, Rosie, but although he sees shimmering jewels all around him, they inevitably turn out to be natural wonders, like berries in the grass, or sunbeams on the leaves. Will he ever find a gift that expresses how much Rosie means to him...?

With rhyming text, sweet animal characters, and sparkly illustrations, The Very Special Valentine would probably make a good read-aloud selection, for young children who like cute Valentine's Day stories. I confess however, that it was just a little too cute for this adult reader. I grabbed it, almost at random, from the mostly depleted Valentine's Day display at the public library, this past weekend. Obviously, I should have examined it more closely...… (mere)