A lovely, reassuring tale for children set during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.
A little girl and her friends—following Covid-19 safety protocols—take an exhilarating bike ride in this picture book.
On a windy autumn day, with Dad jogging behind, a girl rides her balance bike—“Feet on pavement. / Tush in seat. / Kick, balance, roll.”—meeting friends whom she hasn’t seen “in FOREVER,” she says. The reason for that is clear from the masks the girl and her friends are wearing and the safe distance they maintain from one another. These Covid-19 concerns don’t interfere with their fun, and that’s the point in this gently affirming tale. The story shows that masks, like the helmet each child wears while biking, are no big deal, just a simple, everyday thing worn for protection. Wheelock and Evans, who collaborated on their first children’s book, We Toot! (2019), impart this message in a loose, free-verse style, capturing the high spirits of kids at play. Swartz’s watercolor illustrations—softly hued and evocative of breezy outdoor fun—depict the kids, each wearing a differently patterned mask, as a diverse group with varied skin tones and hair colors. Speeding down a steep hill ends with the girl’s spill and tears, but Dad is there. Besides, it’s more important, she notes, to help a little boy find the toy bunny he lost during the ride. The story then repeats with one change: The characters no longer wear masks, an unspoken pledge that one day they will no longer be necessary.
A lovely, reassuring tale for children set during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73313-745-4
Page Count: 54
Publisher: House of Tomorrow
Review Posted Online: Oct. 22, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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