Everyone's Irish! Happy St. Patrick's Day, Curious George by Cynthia Platt

TOP O' THE MORNING, GEORGE!
IT'S TIME TO ROMP AND PLAY
WITH A PARTY, DANCING, AND PARADE
EVERYONE'S IRISH TODAY!

LITTLE MONKEY TOP HAT,
FANCY GREEN PLAID VEST.
GEORGE PICKS OUT HIS FINEST
SO THAT HE'LL LOOK HIS BEST.

It's the day for the "wearin' o' the green," and George is all decked out properly for St. Paddy's Day. But--look! The Man with the Yellow Hat is wearing his usual all-yellow outfit! What a party pooper. And not even green eggs and ham for breakfast!

Oh, well.  George heads out to the park for the festivities.  He joins some kids at the craft table and cuts out some shamrocks.  Then he moves on to the hunt for the leprechaun's golden coins--the chocolate kind. George bags a bagful and then catches the strain of some lively fiddle and pipes playing.  Some girls in fancy green dresses and bouncy curls are dancing, and George can't resist trying Irish dancing!

GEORGE JUMPS IN
WITH A GRIN.
MONKEY TOES
A-TAPPING.

George spots something special as he taps in the green grass--a four-leafed clover.  It must be the luck of the Irish, for sure.

Then George smells something good and moves on to a table piled high with Irish dishes and bright green punch.  George reaches up and up and oops! The punch bowl totters, tips, and falls--kersplash, just as the the Man with the Yellow Hat comes up to join George.

OH, NO! OH, MY! WHAT HAS HE DONE?
GEORGE JUMPS UP TO CLEAN.
HE SMILES AT HIS GOOD FRIEND AND SEES
AT LAST HE'S WEARING GREEN!

Begorra! With his total outfit splashed with emerald-hued punch, the Man With the Yellow Hat is now wearing green just in time to join the St. Patrick's Day Parade with George, in Happy St. Patrick's Day, Curious George tabbed board book (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014). In this latest holiday adventure, George takes preschoolers along on a tour of St. Patrick's Day-themed fun. With jolly quatrains by Cynthia Platt and plenty of green in the illustrations by Mary O'Keefe Young, H.A. Rey's classic character shows youngsters how to celebrate all the Irish-themed festivities (conveniently tabbed) of St. Patrick's Day.

For a truly green storytime, pair this one with Natasha Wing's The Night Before St. Patrick's Day (see my review here).

Llama Llama Holidays: Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney

SPARKLY CANDLES, YUMMY BREAD.
DRESS-UP CLOTHES IN GREEN AND RED.

HOW LONG TILL THAT SPECIAL DATE?
LLAMA, LLAMA HAS TO WAIT.

For a lot of us grownups, the rituals of pre-holiday days--the goodies, the music, wrapping presents, parties with friends and family--are the best part. But for the little ones whose dazzled eyes are on the prize--those long-awaited gifts from Santa under the tree--the big day is way too long in coming. The earlier the jingle bells start up, the more the tension builds, and many a toddler meltdown has been the not-so-merry result.

Anna Dewdney's insightful new Llama Llama Holiday Drama (Viking, 2010) documents the fun and the fuss over the holiday season perfectly. All the fun and frustration of those hustle-bustle days are seen in little Llama's eyes and reflected humorously in the eyes of his little stuffed llama who goes everywhere with him. As in her wonderful earlier Llama, Llama books, Dewdney shrewdly catches, from a child's eye view, the frustrations of daily life, especially the ones that build excitement over that time between the day the Halloween treats are all gone and that Christmas morning release.

LLAMA, LLAMA HOLIDAYS.
ADS, SIGNS, AND STORE DISPLAYS.

Mama Llama trudges through it all with little Llama in tow--choosing gifts for his friends, making what seems like millions of cookies, struggling to untangle the lights for their tree--and for a little Llama, it is all overwhelming.

TOO MUCH MUSIC. TOO MUCH FLUFF.
TOO MUCH MAKING. TOO MUCH STUFF!

Mama knows all too well what is likely to come next--big time Llama Drama! Leaving the lights in a tangle around them, she quietly takes him on her lap and gives him a cuddle.

WISHING, WAITING, WANTING THINGS...
WE FORGET WHAT THIS TIME BRINGS.

GIFTS ARE NICE, BUT THERE'S ANOTHER--
THE TRUE GIFT IS WE HAVE EACH OTHER.

It's not a new message, but Dewdney makes it once more and makes it well in a way that little ones can understand. There can be too much excitement, too many wants, too many gifts, but there can never be too much family time together for little ones, and in her first holiday outing, Llama Llama Holiday Drama, Anna Dewdney sticks up for those homey holiday hopes that really bring a "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night."

It's the Thought! The Gift of Nothing by Patrick McDonnell

IT WAS A SPECIAL DAY, AND MOOCH WANTED TO GIVE HIS BEST FRIEND, EARL, A GIFT.

BUT WHAT TO GIVE HIM? HE HAD A BOWL. HE HAD A BED. HE HAD CHEWY TOYS.

HE HAD IT ALL.

What to give a dog who has it all? Mooch the cat is stumped. His friend deserves something special. But what something?

Wait! Everyone gives everybody something. Maybe the best thing he can give him is--NOTHING! But where can you go for nothing?

Then Millie comes home from a shopping expedition tired and dispirited. "There's nothing to buy! she complains loudly.

Aha! Now Mooch knows where to look for this illusive nothing! It's off to the stores, where he sees many, many, many, somethings, some already wrapped in bright red bows for gift giving--but no nothings to buy. Finally, Mooch has to give up and repair to his favorite pillow for a refreshing nap.

And suddenly the answer come to him. Mooch finds a small box for Earl's gift, but is a bit underwhelmed with its presentation. "Hmmm... Maybe Earl deserves more than this," he muses, fetching a bigger box. "Now, that's plenty of nothing!"

Earl is impressed with the brightly beribboned box, but he is understandably perplexed when he opens Mooch's gift--and find NOTHING inside.

"Nothing but you and me!" says Mooch with a hug.

Patrick McDonnell sets his popular cartoon characters in a minimalist setting, black line drawings touched with small accents in red to work out his theme that it's the thought behind a friend's gift that means so much. It's a good theme for the holiday season, birthdays, and any time, and McDonnell's perennially popular The Gift of Nothing makes the point with a spare minimum of fuss!