An LGBTQ+ affirming celebration of parental love in all its forms.
In this picture book from Olson, an owl tells the story of a young girl’s open adoption.
Wanda, a bespectacled brown owl in professorial robes, speaks to an unnamed redheaded girl: “Would you like to hear a special story? / It’s a love story—and it’s all about YOU!” Wanda explains that the girl’s parents—a loving, male couple—wanted and wished and prayed for a child and describes how they applied to an adoption agency, and how the girl’s birth mother loved the girl and scrupulously chose her adoptive dads from an enormous stack of hopeful applicants. Wanda shares how the dads hugged each other and danced upon receiving the good news; how they were present at the hospital for the girl’s birth; and how, as the girl grows, they will share pictures and life updates with her mother. Wanda observes, “YOU have brought two families / together through their love / for you.” Olson’s text is composed of straightforward, nonrhyming prose; the narrative skirts the question of why the girl was given up for adoption and instead emphasizes the love that all three parents feel for her—and the love that she, in turn, brings to them. Urbiztondo’s digital illustrations capture the tenderness and joy in the adults’ expressions and exuberant body language, as well as in the sweetly rendered flowers, trees, family snapshots, and swirls of emotion.
An LGBTQ+ affirming celebration of parental love in all its forms.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9798991818919
Page Count: 38
Publisher: Kids Are Awesome Publishing LLC
Review Posted Online: Sept. 8, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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