It’s a good thing ciao can mean hello—or goodbye.
Take a tour of Venice from a dog’s-eye view.
Meet Sandro, a small black and tan dog with perky ears and wide cartoon eyes. He and his gondolier owner, Nicola, wear matching blue-and-white striped tops, with a dashing straw hat for Nic and a red neckerchief for Sandro. Together, they spend their days on the canals of Venice, but today Sandro “ha[s] people to see, places to go!” and embarks on a secret mission that takes him, and readers with him, on an uneventful tour of the historic city. This confident little dog marches through small alleys, crosses bridges, and even boards a vaporetto (a Venetian water bus) to ensure everything is shipshape for—surprise!—Nic’s birthday party. Despite a hearty sprinkling of Italian phrases and Venice-specific terms (complete with a glossary at the back), the book really fails to convey the vibrancy of Venice, which, as a major global cultural center and tourist hot spot, is in reality constantly bustling with dense, diverse crowds conspicuously absent from the dull, static illustrations. Everyone depicted, named or otherwise, has one of two skin tones: unvaried peach for White people (including Nicola) or a cadaverous taupe for people of color. While Varni’s writing lovingly evokes this European capital, the visual accompaniment fails to do justice to this heart-stoppingly beautiful city. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s a good thing ciao can mean hello—or goodbye. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 8, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4390-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note.
Little Honey Bunny Funnybunny loves baseball almost as much as she loves her big brother P.J.—though it’s a close-run thing.
Readers familiar with the pranks P.J. plays on his younger sibling in older episodes of the series (most illustrated by Roger Bollen) will be amused—and perhaps a little confused—to see him in the role of perfect big brother after meeting his swaddled little sister for the first time in mama’s lap. But here, along with being a constant companion and “always happy to see her,” he cements his heroic status in her eyes by hitting a home run for his baseball team and then patiently teaching her how to play T-ball. After carefully coaching her and leading her through warm-up exercises, he even sits in the stands, loudly cheering her on as she scores the winning run in her own very first game. “‘You are the best brother a bunny could ever have!’” she burbles. This tale’s a tad blander compared with others centered on P.J. and his sister, but it’s undeniably cheery, with text well structured for burgeoning readers. The all-smiles animal cast in Bowers’ cartoon art features a large and diversely hued family of bunnies sporting immense floppy ears as well as a multispecies crowd of furry onlookers equally varied of color, with one spectator in a wheelchair.
A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note. (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9798217032464
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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