APRIL'S JOURNEY

Name: APRIL'S JOURNEY
Author: Annamaria Piccione
ISBN: 9788410406803

From the Egalité series

by Annamaria Piccione & Luis Amavisca ; illustrated by Francesc Rovira & translated by Robin Sinclair ; Luis Amavisca ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 14, 2026

A dialogue-sparking meditation on a global crisis.

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A story of the plight of child refugees, translated from Spanish.

April is alone in a bomb-ravaged landscape, surveying the remnants of buildings, surrounded by the dangerous detritus of utility poles, sewer pipes, electrical wires and rebar, all depicted with wispy, loose linework. It’s a horrifying scene, observed by a sad-eyed, pale-skinned youngster with a button nose, blond pigtails, and a stuffed rabbit clutched at her side. She moves on, pushing through snow and rain, an echo of William Steig’s Brave Irene, until she finds another child, Julio, a boy with brown skin and black hair, a worried gaze, and a well-worn teddy bear. Together, they embark on a journey in search of safety, scaling a mountain, sailing on an endless sea, and finally making contact with a caring adult who offers them a warm, peaceful home. The intentional simplicity and ambiguous cultural context of April’s journey will likely be received very differently depending on the reader. For readers with a growing understanding of real-world refugee crises, April and Julio’s perilous situation and idealized rescue may seem like an oversimplification of the complex causes and lingering effects of such emergencies. But for caregivers of young children seeking a gentle exploration of the emotional impact of violent displacement, the book offers a starting point for meaningful conversation.

A dialogue-sparking meditation on a global crisis. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: April 14, 2026

ISBN: 9788410406803

Page Count: 40

Publisher: NubeOcho

Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL SCIENCES

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Jim Valeri

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

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FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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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)