A kid-friendly primer on addressing the elephant in the room—metaphorical and otherwise.
Attempting to conceal a big secret only makes life harder.
Maya’s family is trying to hide something that’s sitting in the middle of their living room: a big pink egg-shaped elephant wearing a yellow diaper and a folded newspaper hat. Maya’s dad refuses to look at him. Her mother “tries to sweep him under the rug,” while her sister “dances around him.” Nevertheless, the elephant is an ever looming presence in their lives—and a mortifying one, too. The neighbors complain about the noise, so Maya pretends she is practicing her trumpet. And even the raccoons hold their noses at the stinking elephant diapers. When new girl Serena moves next door and tries to befriend Maya, Maya makes several humorous but also desperate excuses. Finally, Serena knocks on Maya’s door and reveals that she has her own large green elephant. The elephants make an effective metaphor for the embarrassing secrets that so often bring kids discomfort. Together, the girls decide it’s better to talk about their problems rather than trying to cover them up—a sound takeaway that will resonate with readers in similar situations. Cartoon-style illustrations with large color blocks and minimal details create a gentle, nonthreatening world for kids to safely consider and sharpen social-emotional skills. Maya and her family have blue skin, while Serena has bright orange skin. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A kid-friendly primer on addressing the elephant in the room—metaphorical and otherwise. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9781958325025
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Marble Press
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A flavorful call to action sure to spur young introverts.
In this latest slice in the Food Group series, Humble Pie learns to stand up to a busy friend who’s taking advantage of his pal’s hard work on the sidelines.
Jake the Cake and Humble Pie are good friends. Where Pie is content to toil in the background, Jake happily shines in the spotlight. Alert readers will notice that Pie’s always right there, too, getting A-pluses and skiing expertly just behind—while also doing the support work that keeps every school and social project humming. “Fact: Nobody notices pie when there’s cake nearby!” When the two friends pair up for a science project, things begin well. But when the overcommitted Jake makes excuse after excuse, showing up late or not at all, a panicked Pie realizes that they won’t finish in time. When Jake finally shows up on the night before the project’s due, Pie courageously confronts him. “And for once, I wasn’t going to sugarcoat it.” The friends talk it out and collaborate through the night for the project’s successful presentation in class the next day. John and Oswald’s winning recipe—plentiful puns and delightful visual jokes—has yielded another treat here. The narration does skew didactic as it wraps up: “There’s nothing wrong with having a tough conversation, asking for help, or making sure you’re being treated fairly.” But it’s all good fun, in service of some gentle lessons about social-emotional development.
A flavorful call to action sure to spur young introverts. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780063469730
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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