![]() ![]() A saccharine conclusion notes that being little can sometimes be great and that “having a friend by your side makes anything possible.” The story is pleasant but predictable, with an improbably easy solution to Dot’s problem. This climactic flying leap into the sleigh is not adequately illustrated, as Dot is shown just starting to leap and then already in the sleigh. Only Dot notices one small present that’s fallen in the snow, and she successfully leaps into the departing sleigh with the gift. On Christmas Eve, Santa and the reindeer team take off with their overloaded sleigh. Her family members encourage her and help her practice her skills, and her mother tells her, “There’s always next year.” Dot’s elf friend, Oliver, encourages her and spends time playing with her, doing things that Dot can do well, such as building a snowman and chasing their friend Yeti (who looks like a fuzzy, white gumdrop). 3-5)ĭot, the smallest reindeer at the North Pole, is too little to fly with the reindeer team on Christmas Eve, but she helps Santa in a different, unexpected way.ĭot is distressed because she can’t jump and fly like the other, bigger reindeer. Yaccarino’s bold but simple illustrations make effective use of unusual colors and white space, and some of the characters are cleverly named, but their dialogue is a little too simple: “ ‘Gubba, gubba,’ said Catrina Caterpillar.” ‘Yawn,’ said Henry.” Preschoolers who are fans of the TV show might like this, but their parents will be yawning along with Henry the penguin. In a reverse of the “Enormous Turnip” folktale concept, the line of friends all help push the piano out of a fountain and back to the apartment, then over to a pie shop, but the actual scene of successfully pushing the piano up the stairs is never shown, effectively bypassing the resolution of the plot. Oswald and Weenie give it a try (there’s no explanation of how they get it out of the car), but the piano rolls down the front steps and out into the town, where Oswald and Weenie meet a succession of new friends who offer to help. The jolly octopus has moved to a new town with his dog (a dachshund named Weenie), and his problem is how to move his huge piano up the stairs and into his new apartment. Oswald is a rotund, royal-blue octopus who stars in his own TV series for preschoolers on Nick Jr., which was also created by Yaccarino ( I Love Going Through This Book, see above, etc.). ![]()
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