A wholesome and heartwarming ode to school nurses everywhere.
A day in the life of a busy school nurse.
After arriving by bike, beloved Miss Peatree, who is brown-skinned, begins her workday at Bluebell Elementary. Whistling, she unlocks her room with a big brass key, wipes the counters, sweeps, and more—each step with gusto!—as she sets up for the day ahead. Her first young patient visits her before classes even begin, proclaiming a tummy “full of grumbles.” Another, whose face is splattered with paint (“a catastrophe!”), barges in soon after. Next comes a loose tooth, then homesickness. There’s blood, snot, lice, a splinter, a paper cut, vomit, and injuries galore. The nurse’s office is practically a revolving door of children—and even one principal. A visitor log sidebar cleverly tracks each patient’s name (including repeat visitors), ailment, and status. Miss Peatree fixes up each and every person. But who takes care of Miss Peatree when she gets home? Farrell’s full-color art shines in its details, especially the hand-lettering that matches each patient’s mood and ailment. The characters’ histrionic facial expressions expertly complement Wallace’s humorous narrative. Endpapers feature bandages of various colors and skin tones, an inclusive touch for the diverse cast.
A wholesome and heartwarming ode to school nurses everywhere. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781797210810
Page Count: 60
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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