Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Boynton applies her signature wit and clean-cut visual style to this latest board book, a jubilant Christmas Eve romp spun off from a song on her holiday album, Cows and Holly. First-person narration comes from a pajama-clad, long-eared gray rabbit with an atypical holiday wish: "a dance with Santa Claus." Why? Because "he's OH SO JOLLY!// We could deck the halls with Buddy Holly!" In the lead-up to the big night (and its gratifying conclusion), verse's rhythmic repetition conveys the hopeful dancer's single-mindedness, eager anticipation, and whole-hearted Santa-awe: "I'm putting on my dance shoes./ I really believe./ It's not about presents./ No, it never was./ I just want to dance with/ Santa Claus." Boynton fans will find familiar-feeling singsong liveliness at play throughout, amplified by holiday-styled end pages that urge, "Dance!" Santa is portrayed with pale skin. Ages 4--8. (Oct.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Boynton brings the brio to another celebratory Christmas chorus. Clad in pastel onesies, seven long-eared rabbit siblings bearing gifts ferry a fir while a lone bunny, who narrates, patiently waits. As the solitary youngster explains to the parental rabbits decorating the tree, "I just want to dance with Santa Claus!" Sure, Santa's busy, but he's also "oh so jolly!" so the swing-loving speaker suggests decking the halls "with Buddy Holly." Radically rejecting commercialism, the small rabbit offers to make a deal: "You can keep all the toys" in exchange for a brief dance with the big guy in red. "It's not about presents"; it's about belief--and that faith is joyously rewarded when the sleepless bunny hears a "KUH-THOMPP" from the fireplace. Tan-skinned Santa emerges and issues the all-important invitation. They twirl and jive (a score is provided) for just a moment, but it's enough. After they bid each other a "Merry Christmas," the bedded-down bunny cherishes the gift of an enduring memory. The verse comes from a song written for the author's 2024Cows and Holly album. Text that has a hand-printed feel alternates with large, colorful serif fonts, potentially aiding beginning readers, while spare but spot-on details in careful compositions provide Boynton's perennial pictorial panache. No pigs, hippos, or chickens get a look-in, but the bunny's bedspread is patterned in prancing parallel reindeer. A gleeful holiday caper.(Picture book. 1-5) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
