CHRISTMAS BOOKS: Peppa Pig and the Christmas Surprise & A Very Mercy Christmas by Kate DiCamillo & Chris Van Duden
ABOUT THE BOOK
It’s Christmas morning, and Santa has left presents under the tree for everyone. But no one is more delighted than Grandpa Pig, whose gift is something he’s always wanted: a drone! Everyone rushes outside to try it out, and Peppa and George love watching where it flies. But when its battery runs low, the drone is supposed to fly home. Where is that? Could it be . . . the North Pole? As Peppa and George watch and wait, they spot friends having wintry fun while Grandpa’s gift flies farther and farther away. What kind of Christmas surprise will it take for him to get it back?
REVIEW
For those who enjoy Peppa Pig, this book provides a fun look at a Peppa Christmas Day. Peppa and her brother, eagerly awaken their family to open presents. The most exciting present is Grandpa's. He receives a drone, that the whole family enjoys seeing Grandpa fly. But when drone sets out to fly 'home' to the North Pole, the family is saddened. But Santa has another surprise for the family. A cute book for young Peppa Pig fans. The only issue for me was my inability to read this with an appropriate British accent. The book jacket has a poster on the back for children to color.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Stella Endicott felt joyful. She felt like something miraculous might happen. She wanted to sing.
When Stella gets the sudden idea to go caroling, she has a little trouble getting someone to join her. Her brother, Frank, is not good at spontaneity. The Watsons are very involved in a precarious fruitcake attempt (but happy to send their pig, Mercy, out for the occasion). Eugenia Lincoln declines, a bit rudely, to accompany on her accordion, and Horace Broom is too busy studying planetary movement. Will Stella need to sing by herself—with enthusiastic contributions from the pig, the cat, and the horse she picks up on the way? Or does the evening hold a miracle Stella hadn’t expected? With tender affection for Mercy Watson and all her Deckawoo Drive friends, Kate DiCamillo and Chris Van Dusen offer a picture-book homage to the season that is perfectly suited for family sharing—perhaps with some cups of hot cocoa and a stack of well-buttered toast.
REVIEW
Stella Endicott wants to share the joy she feels with the neighbors by caroling. But when the only ones who will join her are Mercy, a pig, General Washington, a cat, and Maybelline, a horse, will the joy be lost? The answer of course, is a big fat NO. With the whole group sharing their joy freely, if rather unmusically, how can the neighborhood do anything but respond. With Van Dusen's typically lush illustrations full of color and joy, this makes a wonderful book to read with young readers, especially those who already have a fondness for Mercy Watson and her friends and neighbors. Kate DiCamillo has such a gift for creating stories with heartfelt characters and tender story lines. A true celebration of Christmas that doesn't involve gift-giving but focuses on the sweet feelings that can permeate the season when we let it. There is of course, buttered toast, just the way Mercy would want it.
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