An imaginative, deeply satisfying odyssey.
An underground detour allows a girl to better understand herself and her big brother.
“My name is Yuki. I have a terrible temper.” The young narrator believes that her rudeness and tendency to burst into tears are the reasons her brother, Shen, doesn’t like her. After picking her up from school and handing her the house keys, he “sulks silently inside his hood, like a caterpillar in a cocoon.” Frustrated, Yuki throws the keys down a manhole but instantly regrets her actions. She descends a long ladder to the bottom, where she meets the titular mud princess—a lumpy brown tour guide, dripping with dirt and with twigs instead of hair, but with a welcoming demeanor. In the best tradition of enlightening literary journeys, the duo pass through the Wicked Woods, Lake Youbegone, and the Grumporium. Each setting is wondrous, the earthy palette incorporating shimmering blues and textured mixed-media patterns. Comic relief comes in various forms, among them the smelly, mean Boogers that trail after them. As she travels with Her Royal Muddiness, Yuki learns some profound truths about family and emotion: “When people get angry, they take it out on the things they love.” Tenderness undergirds Yuki and Shen’s ensuing reunion. Alemagna’s narrative employs lovely alliteration, striking figurative language, subtle exchanges between characters, and delightful images to probe the siblings’ complex emotions while allowing readers to discern meaning for themselves. Human characters are pale-skinned and dark-haired.
An imaginative, deeply satisfying odyssey. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 31, 2026
ISBN: 9781662641305
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Hippo Park/Astra Books for Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned.
All the reasons why a daughter needs a mother.
Each spread features an adorable cartoon animal parent-child pair on the recto opposite a rhyming verse: “I’ll always support you in giving your all / in every endeavor, the big and the small, / and be there to catch you in case you should fall. / I hope you believe this is true.” A virtually identical book, Why a Daughter Needs a Dad, publishes simultaneously. Both address standing up for yourself and your values, laughing to ease troubles, being thankful, valuing friendship, persevering and dreaming big, being truthful, thinking through decisions, and being open to differences, among other topics. Though the sentiments/life lessons here and in the companion title are heartfelt and important, there are much better ways to deliver them. These books are likely to go right over children’s heads and developmental levels (especially with the rather advanced vocabulary); their parents are the more likely audience, and for them, the books provide some coaching in what kids need to hear. The two books are largely interchangeable, especially since there are so few references to mom or dad, but one spread in each book reverts to stereotype: Dad balances the two-wheeler, and mom helps with clothing and hair styles. Since the books are separate, it aids in customization for many families.
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned. (Picture book. 4-8, adult)Pub Date: May 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6781-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
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
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