Anxieties dissolve in a wash of cozy reassurance and emotional support.
Destiny is frightened of nighttime monsters—until she meets one.
Writing for youngsters ready to move into chapter books, Sokunbi introduces a buoyant young Black doodler who is never without her drawing notebook and almost never without her pet hamster, Fuzzy. An invitation to a first backyard sleepover with best friend Olivia has Destiny feeling like she’s got a butterfly party in her tummy. But comforting words from her mom and a practice run in her bedroom that night with a bed sheet over a drying rack dispel her fears—particularly after she meets timorous, three-eyed Trog, who is scared of humans, clutches a comfort fuzzball named Furbs, and looks like a tomatillo on legs. Realizing that her thoroughly nonfrightening new friend is also terrified of the dark, Destiny knows she has to be brave, so she leads him outside to look at the stars and shine a flashlight into the shadows. The next morning, there’s no sign of him, but she’s ready for an “INKTASTIC” (to use her frequent watchword) time with Olivia. The line drawings and doodles that festoon the pages look less spontaneous or childlike than the chatty narrative sounds, but the young doodler shines with personality and, more often than not, confidence. Human figures have skin the color of the page; straight-haired Olivia presents as white.
Anxieties dissolve in a wash of cozy reassurance and emotional support. (drawing lessons) (Chapter book. 7-9)Pub Date: April 14, 2026
ISBN: 9798887771526
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: today
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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