Peaches & Jake Celebrate Christmas
Bursting with energy and excitement, Peaches and Jake Celebrate Christmas is an upbeat holiday picture book about two dogs with quite different approaches to their gifts.
Paula Bailey’s festive and bright picture book Peaches and Jake Celebrate Christmas is about a holiday celebration with darling rescue dogs.
Six-year-old Peaches and nine-year-old Jake are rescue dogs and best friends. On Christmas morning, the dogs are thrilled to discover two stuffed animals left by Santa. Happy chaos soon abounds as Jake roughhouses with his new toy, Moosie, and Peaches tries to make sense of what one does with a stuffed fox. With a little direction from Mommy, the two pups learn how joyful holiday celebrations can be.
Bursting with energy and excitement, Jake and Peaches are delightful characters whose big personalities lead to adorable predicaments. Jake is a fearless and devoted “big brother” to Peaches, teaching her how to eat a bone. And Peaches is hesitant but brave, determined to figure out her new toy, Foxie. The tone remains lighthearted, even as poor Moosie loses one limb after another. Deeper notes about friendship and respect are incorporated throughout: Peaches reflects on how thankful she is for Jake; Jake learns to love Moosie no matter the toy’s condition.
The story is told via short, expressive sentences that weave between the perspectives of Peaches, Jake, and Mommy; shifts in verb tense lead to awkward moments. Each page begins with a large caption in bold print followed by limited narration in a font size that strains the eyes. Indeed, the colorful photographs do the bulk of the storytelling, filling in the details about the furry friends’ thoughts and antics that the text itself keeps vague.
Most of the photographs feature the dogs with varying expressions of joy and bemusement on their faces. In one picture, Peaches wrestles with a bone half the size of her head. In another, Jake grins while snuggling up to Moosie’s remains. But as the book continues, the photographs become too grainy. However, the concluding photograph is sweet: In it, Jake and Peaches beam at the camera while bedecked in signs of holiday cheer.
Canine companions enjoy their Christmas morning treats in the cheerful picture book Peaches and Jake Celebrate Christmas.
Reviewed by
Vivian Turnbull
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
