Roc and Roe's Twelve Days of Christmas

September 15, 2014
Rapper/entrepreneur Cannon’s opening note says that he and his (now estranged) wife, Mariah Carey, had “so much fun putting this book together,” and this enthusiasm is evident—perhaps due to the stars of the book: their children Moroccan (“Roc”) and Munroe (“Roe”). Cannon’s version of this carol features the two children placing various ornaments on the family’s Christmas tree, but extra syllables (“On the first day of Christmas/ Roc and Roe put on their Christmas tree”) make for an awkward singalong. Ford’s (Under the Same Sun) cartoons are similarly underwhelming—more dashed-off sketches than the richly rendered work his readers are used to. The book never shakes the feel of a vanity project—readers will have to care quite a bit about Cannon’s family to bother with it. Ages 3–5. Author’s agent: Robert Caruso, Impact Republic; Ncredible Entertainment. Illustrator’s agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.

September 1, 2014
Celebrity children decorate a Christmas tree over the course of 12 days. "On the first day of Christmas, / Roc and Roe put on their Christmas tree / an angel with sparkly, shiny wings." From that inauspicious start, America's Got Talent host Cannon sets the children to decorating the tree, one day at a time, with such trinkets as singing Santas, balloons with bows, festive fairies and chugging choo-choos. As the twins decorate, their two Jack Russell terriers cavort-probably the inspiration for the tree's "nine jumping Jacks." The children are modeled on Cannon and Mariah Carey's twins, Moroccan and Monroe (seen in a family photo on the front endpapers). There is no getting around the stumbling rhythms and occasionally obscure, presumably scansion-forced vocabulary; in addition to those jumping Jacks, the kids hang "three 'pip' photos," a reference that may send readers unfamiliar with this Carey-ism to Google to parse (a note on the jacket flap is utterly opaque). Ford does his best to make it work. Amusingly, the two children pack the bottom boughs full, not attempting the higher ones till Day 11, when Roc teeters dangerously on, presumably, a windowsill to hang some teddy bears. Probably the book's greatest contribution is the prominent placement of a dark-skinned angel on Day 1; this acts as a focal point for all that follows. For fans only. (Picture book. 3-5)

COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.