The energetic, comical illustrations, in Boynton’s signature style, will elicit giggles and go far to make the book’s important point.

This riotous book hits all the right notes and does so succinctly and hilariously. So forgive yourself, chickens! But the best thing is…instead of relying on someone else-like a chicken-to strengthen your ego, say a generous daily “WOO HOO!” to yourself. That alone is a pep talk, enhanced by the wisdom that making mistakes allows everyone to learn and demonstrate they did their best. But what if your cheerful chick errs and doesn’t do what it set out to do? Don’t worry-your cheery chicken just needs a reminder that everyone makes mistakes. Your feathered champion will be right there, encouraging you all the way, with a loud “WOO HOO!” that’ll keep you going and remove any doubt you’re super terrific. What’s better than a cheerleading chicken?Īre you ever blue, unsure, tired, or overworked? Do you ever feel lost or overwhelmed? This uplifting book, expressed in delightful, jaunty verse, explains how to lift your spirits pronto: What you need is a booster chicken telling you’re doing great even when you’re not so confident, as when you’re learning or practicing a new skill, for instance. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 31.8% of actual size.) She would build her life up spreading joy, one child at a time.” Will she leave the girl’s house to be gifted to other children? Will she stay and somehow also reach ever more children? Readers will be left wondering. “At last she understood what she was meant to do. A convoluted happily-ever-after ending shows a note from Santa that thanks the sleigh for giving children joy and invites her to the North Pole next year. When the girl brings her home, the sleigh is crestfallen she didn’t reach the North Pole.

When a storm descends after the sleigh strikes out on her own, an unnamed girl playing in the snow brings her to a group of children who all take turns riding the sleigh down a hill. A train and truck help the sleigh along, and when she wishes she were big, fast, and powerful like them, they offer encouragement and counsel patience. Other toys discourage her, but she perseveres despite creeping self-doubt.

“She longed to become Santa’s big red sleigh,” reads an early line establishing the sleigh’s motivation to leave her Christmas-shop home for the North Pole. A little red sleigh has big Christmas dreams.Īlthough the detailed, full-color art doesn’t anthropomorphize the protagonist (which readers will likely identify as a sled and not a sleigh), a close third-person text affords the object thoughts and feelings while assigning feminine pronouns.

Green is for christmas drew daywalt