Babar and Father Christmas by Jean de Brunhoff

Less a story than a vernal celebration, the book depicts a bucolic drive through farmland and encounters with various animals and their young along the way. At about half the length and with half as much text as the aforementioned titles, this volume is a much quicker read. Both of those books, published for preschoolers rather than toddlers, featured rich storylines, dramatic, kinetic illustrations, and simple but valuable life lessons-the folly of taking oneself too seriously, the importance of friends, and the virtue of taking turns, for example. This lift-the-flap, interactive entry in the popular Little Blue Truck series lacks the narrative strength and valuable life lessons of the original Little Blue Truck (2008) and its sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (2009). Little Blue Truck and his pal Toad meet friends old and new on a springtime drive through the country. Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

(This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window.

A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Babar and Father Christmas by Jean de Brunhoff