cover image Mother Hubbard's Christmas

Mother Hubbard's Christmas

John O'Brien. Boyds Mills Press, $14.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-1-56397-139-6

Apparently, old dogs can learn new tricks. Mother Hubbard's pooch has mastered a bunch of them: he juggles plates, rides a sled and even cooks up a holiday feast. Canine silliness and Christmas theme aside, however, this ditty lacks the bite of the Mother Goose standard. O'Brien's (Six Creepy Sheep) fastidious pen-and-ink and watercolor work still bubbles with perky humor, but there's no reason to this Christmas rhyme. Ages 3-6. (Oct.)