A capable, strong role model takes charge in this entertaining, worthy read.
Disney’s Princess Tiana sets out to make the perfect cake for a royal Mardi Gras visit.
Tiana leaps from the film The Princess and the Frog (2009) to the page in this book written by the Tony Award–winning voice of Tiana, Rose. When her husband Naveen’s parents, the queen and king of Maldonia, announce that they will be arriving for Mardi Gras, Tiana begins planning a special treat for her royal guests. She secures a treasured recipe for king cake and begins searching the bayou for a “dollop of magic glow” to enhance her planned “king and queen cake.” Even though the final product is imperfect, Tiana realizes that the real magic is her love and effort. The story includes a peppering of French words and phrases, thoughtfully explained to readers: fêted, je ne sais quoi, and even simply voilà. Rose’s Tiana is capable and determined, leaving Naveen behind to prepare the house while she ventures out for her special ingredient. Even her accompanying manservant, Raha, bumbles in comparison with her confident proficiency. The illustrations are a match for Disney’s, and Raha’s missteps—seen mostly in the artwork—will make readers giggle. Besides showing Tiana as a quick, skillful problem solver, the story also has a sweet message of the value in doing your best and doing it with love. Tiana is Black; most characters are pictured with brown skin.
A capable, strong role model takes charge in this entertaining, worthy read. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2024
ISBN: 9781368081603
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2024
A strong series start.
In a video game, a superpowered rabbit must rescue a singing dog that brings everyone happiness.
In the frame story, a brown-skinned human protagonist plays a video game on a handheld console evocative of the classic Nintendo Gameboy. The bulk of the book relates the game’s storyline: Animal Town is a peaceful place where everyone is delighted by Singing Dog, until the fun-hating King Viking (whose black-mustachioed, pink-skinned looks reference the Super Mario Brothers game series villain, Wario) uses his army of robots to abduct Singing Dog. To save Singing Dog—and fun—the animals send the fastest among them, Simon the Hedgehog, to get Super Rabbit Boy (who gains speed and jumping powers by eating special carrots) to save the day. The chapters take Super Rabbit Boy through video game levels, with classic, video game–style settings and enemies. Throughout the book, when the game’s player loses either a life in the game or the game entirely, the unnamed kid must choose to persevere and not give up. The storylines are differentiated by colorful art styles—cartoonish for the real world, 8-bit pixel-sprite–style for the game. The fast, repetitive plot uses basic, simple sentences and child-friendly objects of interest, such as lakes of lava, for children working on reading independence, while the nerdy in-jokes benefit adults reading with a child.
A strong series start. (Early reader. 5-7)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-338-03472-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Branches/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
A high-spirited night free of frights.
Actor Plaza and writer/producer Murphy join forces for another bewitching picture book.
Halloween is always a dismal time for Pheenie the witch, because her parties are such failures—until the day spunky young Luna Lopez, who yearns to be a helpful bruja like her grandma in Puerto Rico, appears on her porch. The two strike a bargain: Pheenie will instruct Luna in spellcasting in return for Luna’s help planning and organizing a properly spook-tacular event. Luna helps Pheenie clean up the house and encourages her to substitute tasty cider for wormy trick-or-treat apples and to put out kid-friendly snacks like candy corn and cookies in place of the witch’s typical candied spiders and baked troll fingers. The effervescent narrative is further stoked by several rhymed spells and suitably energetic illustrations. Peck sets the tale in a racially diverse urban neighborhood, and as the witching hour approaches (at around eight p.m., according to the clock on the mantel), in troops a group of eager-looking young partygoers in upscale costumes to play hide-and-seek with real ghosts and dance to a goblin band. It’s a Halloween hullaballoo! Elderly Pheenie is pale-skinned; Luna is tan-skinned.
A high-spirited night free of frights. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: July 29, 2025
ISBN: 9780593693018
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
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