A bold and engaging story that shows the hardships of displacement through a child’s eyes.
A young refugee girl leaves home amid the Armenian genocide in this picture book from the Corts.
The book opens on Anoosh traveling by mule cart with her mother and younger siblings toward Aleppo, Syria. They’re being forced to leave their home in Aintab, Turkey, to meet Anoosh’s father as World War I rages. Along the journey, Anoosh reflects on the home they had to abandon: everything from their beloved apricot tree to the porcelain doll left behind at the window. The Armenian language appears throughout the book, which adds a linguistic and cultural depth. Traditions such as reading coffee grounds sit alongside more difficult moments, like the family’s recollections of soldiers taking over their home. The prose is packed with both melancholy and hope as the protagonist comes to terms with leaving the family’s old life behind. At times, the creative spacing of the text appears awkward or creates an unnecessary lull in the tension, yet the haunting and beautiful illustrations balance these flaws out, especially a particularly well-rendered nocturnal scene of the family underneath the stars. A joyful reunion at the end ultimately circles back to the story’s main message to “always look for hope.” Though the story includes historical context and vocabulary at the end, the text could use more historical background, but it still offers a meaningful narrative introduction to Armenian history and culture.
A bold and engaging story that shows the hardships of displacement through a child’s eyes.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2025
ISBN: 9798999182128
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Fig Mint Press
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Toad and Little Blue Truck get ready for a hayride.
After the titular vehicle is loaded with hay, Toad is nowhere to be found. “Beep! Beep! Beep! Where are you, Toad?” asks Little Blue Truck. All the barnyard animals look for him. Sheep searches the meadow. Goose and Duck check the pond. Others pitch in, too, but Toad seems to have disappeared…until Hen hears snoring coming from the pile of hay in the back of Little Blue Truck. Although the text’s scansion is imperfect in places (adults may want to pre-read to ensure a smooth read-aloud), the bouncy meter and rhyming text nevertheless capture the energy of the search and the farmyard community’s concern for Toad’s safety, making this a solid storytime choice. Eye-catching illustrations with rich, fully saturated colors balance the right level of detail while still highlighting the animal that is the focus of each verse. By introducing one farm animal at a time, Schertle also helps the youngest readers begin to identify barnyard animals by name and understand their unique farm homes. Traditional animal sounds are part of the text, and listeners will add them to their vocabulary. It all ends with the promised hayride, bringing the tale to a joyous ending.
Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2026
ISBN: 9780063436121
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026
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