While readers may appreciate the messages of overcoming bullying and granting forgiveness, the story is hampered by...
Tutu, torches, and tenacity don't add up to a simple, ordinary story.
Readers meet tutu-clad Karen, an “extremely cute animal” building a sand castle, when bully Skyler appears, claiming, “This is MY sandbox and I say: NO STUPID SAND CASTLES!” He proceeds to stomp, smash, and flatten the castle and walks away laughing, leaving Karen in tears. Karen’s friends—mostly nameless, also identified as extremely cute, and many sporting clichéd bows and dresses—announce that they’ll help Karen build a bigger sand castle. Skyler then brings his friends, Mike and Trent, to destroy the now-improved structure. This happens a third time, to be followed by a red spread showcasing infuriated friends above the message: “Being...extremely cute...doesn’t mean…you can’t get...EXTREMELY MAD!” At this point, Karen brings on the titular heavy machinery, including a bulldozer, heavy-lift helicopter, forklift, and welding torches. The result? Circus tents, roller coasters, water slides, a Ferris wheel, bumper boats, carousels, and more entertainment. Gordon generously uses bright colors, and characters’ emotions are expressive. A favorite wordless spread features Karen, in her tutu, wearing a welding mask and operating a blowtorch atop a beamed structure. Unfortunately, though, far too much of the heavy work is done by Joshua, the only other named “cute animal,” while those in feminine garb watch adoringly.
While readers may appreciate the messages of overcoming bullying and granting forgiveness, the story is hampered by cringe-inducing stereotypes. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 24, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4169-2441-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2016
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
