(2) PS Illustrated by Bea Jackson. This picture book joyfully reimagines the popular Christmas carol and counts down twelve hours of a Black family’s celebration. The day begins with a young girl finding a kitten under the tree, but by the second hour: “Uh-oh! Where can she be?” Amid the search, the hours bring five nana hugs, six older cousins, and more. Jackson’s warm, digitally rendered illustrations showcase the variety of skin tones and hairstyles commonly found in African American families. The day ends with a safely located kitten and twelve “loud long ‘love you’s” as holiday guests head home: a perfect ending to the family’s Christmas Day.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023

(2) PS Illustrated by Pippa Curnick. In some traditions, a special cake with a dried bean hidden inside is made on Twelfth Night, January 5, to mark the end of Christmas. Barker cleverly incorporates "The Twelve Days of Christmas" song into her text as each day animals bring another ingredient that two children need to make such a cake. "The list of what we need is long! Where will we find it all? / A ­partridge brings dried fruit and says he'll give some friends a call." ­Curnick's colorful and exuberant illustrations feature a bevy of ­animals--some faithful to the song, some not (four calling penguins)--pitching in, but it's the pet dog that receives the biggest surprise of all. More about Twelfth Night cake, a Christmas cupcake recipe, and the song's original lyrics are appended.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2022

(2) PS The familiar farmyard gang celebrates Christmas Eve in Boynton's latest holiday-themed board book (Christmas Parade, rev. 11/20; Boo! Baa, La La La!, rev. 9/21). After "deck[ing] the halls with cows and holly," singing, trimming the tree, and making merry ("All the happy pigs go HA HA HA!"), it's time to settle down and go to bed. Chickens and other animal friends offer quiet sounds...until (classic Boynton) a rowdy bunch goes "a little wild." Excited little ones will love the implicit invitation.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2022

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Ebony Glenn. "At the first dinging doorbell this ­holiday I see... / a sweet potato pie just for me!" In this delightful takeoff on "The Twelve Days of Christmas," a little Black girl's house begins to fill with family, friends, music, dancing, and food. The celebration brings, among others, "seven brothers repping," "six toddlers squealing," and "LOTS OF MACARONI AND CHEEEEESE." The growing (mostly happy) chaos is cleverly reflected in a subtly changing text and especially in the illustrations, which employ unusual perspectives and dynamic angles to great effect. A warm, funny, original book--and don't worry, our little girl gets her pie in the end.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2022

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Chris Van Dusen. In this Mercy Watson pictre-book spinoff, young Stella Endicott is feeling the Christmas spirit. She asks her neighbors to go caroling, but all the humans are either too busy or not interested. Eugenia Lincoln even closes the door in her face. So it's just Stella, pig Mercy Watson, cat General Washington, and horse Maybelline who raise their voices in song. "It was very loud, and very joyful, and not very musical." When the other residents hear them, they all join in--even Eugenia Lincoln. As usual, Van Dusen's humorous, sharply characterized illustrations pair well with DiCamillo's mix of down-to-earth language and transporting lyricism. "They stood together, and above their heads, above Deckawoo Drive, above the tired and hopeful earth, the stars were shining, shining, shining down."

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2022

(2) PS Illustrated by Will Moses. Folk artist Moses (Grandma's great-grandson) uses the first two and a half verses of "O Little Town of Bethlehem" as the text for his depiction of the ­Nativity story. The homespun quality of the oil paintings serves the tale well, with the manger a warm and comfortably crowded birthplace for the Baby Jesus. Although the carol gets a little abstract from the third verse on (all four verses are appended, along with a ­simple choral arrangement), Moses ­follows the Holy Family on their ­successful journey out of Bethlehem, the star still shining above.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(2) PS Christmas Choir series. With a similar look and sensibility to her Silent Night (rev. 11/18), Hawthorne presents a homey, folksy version of the carol (written in the 1700s per a conversational appended note) that's not old-fashioned. The folk art–style illustrations, in digitally edited gouache, depict a verdant rural scene; as our narrator contemplates her ever-more-crowded home, gifts spill out of doors and into the surrounding countryside. A creamy background provides the white-of-the-page, while spreads are filled nearly to the brim with subdued hues and patterns galore. A lively cast of players winds in and out of scenes--culminating with the narrator's "true love" (another woman) pictured amidst flourishes of hearts and stars beneath that pear tree. A search-and-find spread concludes the book.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

(2) PS The classic "Twelve Days of Christmas" song (appended here) mentions many birds, but this original board book's humorous spin devotes every day to them. Instead of a "partridge in a pear tree," a red-spotted green "birdie in a Santa Claus beard" is the first zany gift. Each subsequent day the corresponding numeral and matching number of birds are pictured for youngsters to count. Mainly white backgrounds keep the focus on the avian antics (the "4 calling birdies" are talking on cellphones; the "8 birdies a-milking" are drinking milk); the birds themselves are very expressive and a colorful collection of shapes and sizes.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

(2) PS With gouache paintings rendered into collagelike illustrations via Photoshop, Hawthorne's version of the Christmas carol notably features Mary, Joseph, and Jesus as a brown-skinned family. The text includes all three verses of John Freeman Young's English translation, thoughtfully divided and carefully placed. The figure and animal drawing is supple, with good contrast between the black and midnight-blue sky, the angels' white wings, and the delicate coloring of textiles.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2018

(4) K-3 An orphan drummer boy gives the gift of music to the newborn king. This version of the Nativity story isn't set in Bethlehem, however, but in what looks like a Germanic village in winter. The snow-dusted landscape in a pastel palette evokes a picturesque scene, but the winter setting for the well-known story seems incongruous. Information about the Grimm brothers is mistakenly appended.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(4) PS The carol's traditional lyrics are illustrated with colorful folk art on sturdy cardstock pages. While the art is otherwise lovely, the little girl narrator is pictured as stiff and doll-like. As the gifts accumulate, the pages get more crowded with a pleasingly diverse cast of lords a-leaping, ladies dancing, etc., and the twelfth-day spread is quite cheery. A pretty but optional addition to holiday collections.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Claudia Ranucci. When two siblings bypass their parents and ask Santa for a monster, the huge, hairy creature he brings is lovable but very destructive. Undaunted, the children plan to ask for monkeys next year. Written to be sung to the tune of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," the amusingly subversive story in rhyme is complemented by illustrations that expand on the children's zany schemes.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(4) PS Two modern-day kids (plus their adorable Westie) enlist a pony and sleigh to deliver a present. The sleigh tips over, the dog takes off after a rabbit, and a fox chases the dog. The traditional song's text has puzzlingly little to do with the visual story, but it might be fun to sing while examining Jeffers's precise and gentle watercolor and ink art.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2017

(2) PS The traditional carol's lyrics frame this boisterous telling in which a little elephant receives twelve days of Christmas presents. As the house fills with French hens, turtle doves, etc., the thrilled little elephant's beleaguered caregiver is increasingly--and humorously--overwhelmed. Pizzoli uses a Christmassy color palette to eye-catching effect; comical changes in facial expression convey the child's increasing delight and the grownup's mounting frustration.

Reviewer: Russell Perry | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2017

(3) PS In Bee, concise rhymes explain the insect's life ("Visiting flowers of every hue, / She has a special job to do"); honeycomb-shaped cut-outs in the textured, spring-hued art show the bee attracting co-pollinators. In the illustrations accompanying Christmas's classic verses, two elvish kids marvel as the famous totems accumulate around a tree; again, Teckentrup comes through with her die-cut-engineering wizardry, highlighting the holiday gifts. Review covers the following titles: Bee and The Twelve Days of Christmas.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Applying the traditional "Twelve Days of Christmas" theme, Pappy gives his recipient Texas-themed gifts, such as horny toads, prickly pears, longhorns grazin', 'dillos diggin', and boots a-scootin', as well as "a mockingbird in a pecan tree." Rustic-looking collages incorporating denim, bandanas, twine, etc., accompany the rather tiring text. "Fun Facts" about the Texas items and a musical score are appended.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Niroot Puttapipat. Just six spreads illustrate the first verse and chorus of the classic Christmas song. Black silhouettes against clean white backgrounds portray Victorian-era villagers delivering an enormous Christmas tree by sleigh. Touches of gold, green, and red on the thick die-cut pages complete the elegant look. The final spread opens into a delicate pop-up. Handsome, but light on content.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(2) PS What starts as a Victorian setting for this cumulative song ends with lots of diversity--eight ladies dancing, for example, wear traditional dress from eight cultures, including Japanese and Dutch, and eleven pipers appear to be Scottish, Peruvian, and colonial American, among others. Using a Christmassy palette, Pham's illustrations capture the burgeoning cast with grace and humor. Music and an artist's note are appended.

Reviewer: Lolly Robinson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2014

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Cynthia Kremsner. A strand of lights off the tree, broken ornaments, sloppy kisses, shredded ribbons, and crumpled gift wrap are some of the gifts a puppy bestows upon its family in this cumulative tale set to the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas." The pup's destruction and mayhem, joyfully outlined in this mostly solid rendition of the carol, are depicted in amateurish illustrations.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(4) K-3 This Christmas collection includes such series favorites as Tacky the penguin and Lyle the crocodile as well as classics like Jessie Willcox Smith's 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. The content makes it well suited for holiday story times (though the large, square format standardizes the tales' layouts, to the detriment of some). Interspersed between the stories are carols from H. A. Rey's Curious George Christmas Carols.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2013