A warmhearted conversation starter of a book.
A story about bullying and overcoming it.
Corey, a bipedal, anthropomorphic rabbit, wears an orange cape to school every day in this Dutch/Flemish import. While all of the other kids stare at Corey, a bullying bulldog named Billy goes a step further, actually taking Corey’s cape every day and not giving it back. Corey puts on a new orange cape each day. The narration describes the other children at school as bystanders who notice the bullying but don’t intercede. Then, “one boy got curious.” The illustrations depict this child as a raccoon who sits next to Corey and asks him why he wears an orange cape each day. Corey explains that orange is his sick mother’s favorite color, and he wears the cape as a sign of support for her. This revelation creates a turning point in the story. The curious boy wears a striped cape to school, and word spreads until all of the others wear capes, too. Eventually only Billy goes capeless—until Corey gifts him one of his spare orange capes. This act of kindness prompts Billy to apologize, concluding the book on a note of forgiveness and reconciliation. (What’s happened to all the capes Billy’s stolen goes unaddressed.) The rather staid, pastel-hued watercolor illustrations depict the characters as human-shaped creatures with fairly realistic-looking animal heads. Compositions are stable, even unexciting, but that lends an air of matter-of-factness to the surreal images on display. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.2-by-19.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 28.9% of actual size.)
A warmhearted conversation starter of a book. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-60537-599-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clavis
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
Another empowering outing led by a dynamic young role model.
The third title in the Ambitious Girl series finds young Maya wanting accomplished women to get their due.
On a school trip to Washington, D.C., brown-skinned, bubble-braided Maya is full of questions, among them “How many representatives are there?” and, while checking out the statues and monuments, “Where are all the women?” Maya’s teacher tells her that they’ve seen all the “popular” statues and monuments. Maya is as dogged (“But what about Eleanor Roosevelt? Or Mary McLeod Bethune?”) as her teacher is dismissive: “Those aren’t on my list.” (Maya’s teacher follows the same list every trip.) Back at home, Maya is newly awakened to the lack of female representation in her orbit—she notices that streets and “even her own school” are named for men. Is there anything she can do about this? Maya’s teacher’s cluelessness feels a bit implausible, more like a plot device to steer the story in the right direction, but Maya’s righteous indignation is believable, and her corresponding activism will energize readers. Valdez gets into the spirit of things with her invigorating digital art: Maya and her multiethnic classmates and neighbors are colorful dressers with smiling faces, which fosters a sense that wherever Maya goes, a warm and ebullient community is there for her.
Another empowering outing led by a dynamic young role model. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9780316561341
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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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