For fairy-tale lovers, this appealing story adds a dash of magic to the night sky.
A Master-in-Training accidentally creates his greatest invention in this picture book that offers an original folktale.
Sam is an assistant to the Master, helping the wizened older man create Earth from a castle in the clouds. But the Master has a problem; during the day, he watches the people of Earth, but the darkness of night makes him miss looking at them. Sam promises to think of something, but the route is circuitous. Sam is the inventor of the Mini Moon, which uses leftover Sun Bits; his wife, Clem, is the creator of the rainbow and designs a sky tapestry for sunrise and sunset. When Sam fashions the Mega Moon to solve the Master’s night vision problem, he’s devastated to realize he’s ripped holes in Clem’s sky weavings. But then the Master shows Sam that the holes have created the stars, calling them “your best invention yet.” This charming tale is light on logic and high on whimsy, and the fairy-tale flavor makes it feel like a much older, familiar story. Davis uses accessible language for independent readers and a comforting tone to encourage nighttime lap reading with an adult. The text switches between present and past tense, which may irk some readers. Xi’s illustrations, featuring an all-White, round-faced cast, are full of fancy, and the depictions of acts of creation—Clem’s rainbow weaving and Sam’s Sun Dust sprinkling—are particularly well done.
For fairy-tale lovers, this appealing story adds a dash of magic to the night sky.Pub Date: May 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-09-836723-7
Page Count: 30
Publisher: BookBaby
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A flavorful call to action sure to spur young introverts.
In this latest slice in the Food Group series, Humble Pie learns to stand up to a busy friend who’s taking advantage of his pal’s hard work on the sidelines.
Jake the Cake and Humble Pie are good friends. Where Pie is content to toil in the background, Jake happily shines in the spotlight. Alert readers will notice that Pie’s always right there, too, getting A-pluses and skiing expertly just behind—while also doing the support work that keeps every school and social project humming. “Fact: Nobody notices pie when there’s cake nearby!” When the two friends pair up for a science project, things begin well. But when the overcommitted Jake makes excuse after excuse, showing up late or not at all, a panicked Pie realizes that they won’t finish in time. When Jake finally shows up on the night before the project’s due, Pie courageously confronts him. “And for once, I wasn’t going to sugarcoat it.” The friends talk it out and collaborate through the night for the project’s successful presentation in class the next day. John and Oswald’s winning recipe—plentiful puns and delightful visual jokes—has yielded another treat here. The narration does skew didactic as it wraps up: “There’s nothing wrong with having a tough conversation, asking for help, or making sure you’re being treated fairly.” But it’s all good fun, in service of some gentle lessons about social-emotional development.
A flavorful call to action sure to spur young introverts. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780063469730
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Not enough tricks to make this a treat.
Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.
Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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