This celebration of a child’s agency in choosing a means of artistic expression strikes just the right note.
Finding just the right instrument to play means a lively trip to the music store to try them all out.
Of all the instruments that slide, squonk, blow, and honk, a young, white would-be musician must select just one. At first it’s a little overwhelming to be surrounded by 88 instruments. Patient parents stand by as the child experiments with an accordion, bagpipes, triangle, saxophone, harp, and drums. The variety of musical sounds is reinforced by rhymes reminiscent of Dr. Seuss: “Do I pick the squeeziest? / The wheeziest? / The easiest and breeziest?” The rhythmic, onomatopoeic text dances across exuberant watercolors with lots of movement. Characters and instruments are lightly drawn and set against a white background to great effect. Musicians will anticipate the outcome of this exuberant adventure from the title, as the child discovers the one instrument that captures the range of musical possibilities—the piano. For a book that targets the musically inclined, it’s unfortunate that design overshadows meaning in the cover art, where the title is backed by a bit of score that makes no musical sense, including two notes with ledger lines on spaces where they don't belong. The minor error can be overlooked in an otherwise delightful book.
This celebration of a child’s agency in choosing a means of artistic expression strikes just the right note. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 16, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-553-53814-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
An absolute pleasure.
A small dog takes a huge leap.
True to her name, sled dog puppy Leap spends her days bounding happily through blankets of freshly fallen snow, bouncily biding her time until she, too, can suit up for a run with the team. Each dog brings a different, equally essential skill to the work of mushing, and as too-young Leap greets the pack when they return from their daily hike, she worries—what if she lacks a special talent of her own when it’s her time to race? But when the much-anticipated day arrives and Leap clips in for her rookie run, her feet tippity-tap excitedly, any trace of self-doubt eclipsed by her irrepressible enthusiasm. With their new addition in tow, the other dogs take off, buoyed as ever by a confidence borne from specialized expertise; they confront obstacles head-on, sailing easily along icy Northwoods terrain. That is until the team encounters a seemingly insurmountable hurdle, one that only their greenest member can clear. Dogsled racer Braverman’s sweet narrative builds a satisfying case for individuality as a community asset, celebrating both the value of teamwork and the discrete strengths that comprise it. Savvy readers will take pride in predicting Leap’s unique contribution, while canine lovers will delight in the revelation that the pups depicted are all real-life sled dogs working in northern Wisconsin. When’s illustrations are equal parts spellbinding and precious, deftly balancing compositional simplicity with masterful color work. The result is peerless.
An absolute pleasure. (author’s note) (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9780063238053
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
It’s a slam dunk
Lucy discovers that the way to learn to play basketball is with friends on a neighborhood court.
Lucy loves playing in the park, and one day she and her friends join their friend Ava and her cousin in their new favorite sport: basketball. Pro player Jermaine, aka “Coach J,” teaches all the basics—footwork, quick passes, dribbling, and a variety of shots. But he also encourages the players to keep trying when they miss, stresses the value of teamwork, and focuses on fun as they learn and later play a practice game. At the end of the workout, Coach J invites the young players to watch him and his team play. Written in loose rhyming couplets, the text has many near rhymes and inconsistent meter. While the storyline is predictable, the book is a good introduction to basketball terms, and young basketball players and fans will appreciate reading about themselves. Vivid silhouetted figures against a white background portray male and female players of several races; Lucy herself is white while Ava and Coach J are black. One young player competes from a wheelchair. A half page of backmatter explains the history of basketball, the NBA and its players, and wheelchair basketball, and one entry also explains the three-on-three basketball that the children play. The book publishes in a simultaneous French edition translated by Rachel Martinez.
It’s a slam dunk . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4598-1697-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
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