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HEY, BOY

Name: HEY, BOY
Author: Benjamin Strouse
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7101-5

by Benjamin Strouse ; illustrated by Jennifer Phelan ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 2, 2017

Luminous.

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A boy meets a dog, and together they embark on a friendship that endures separation, age, and reunion.

Once there was a boy who loved a dog. Under star-filled skies he would tell the dog of “the adventures they would have and the games they would play.” When his mother proclaims he’s not old enough to care for the animal, the heartbroken, white child determinedly tries to grow up, but he’s not fast enough. His dog is adopted, and while kind new owners allow him to visit, he never stops dreaming of a future with his pal. As time passes, his visits become less frequent and life more complex, until one day he’s grown. When the owners can no longer care for the dog, the boy (now an adult) finally brings the black dog home. Strouse and Phelan perfectly complement each other in this meditation on the passage of time. Deceivingly simple text and illustrations belie the complex themes and artistic skill of its creators. In pacing and use of negative white space, the two channel Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree. However, this existential work is more Zen-like. Phelan’s smartly designed spreads take readers on a visual journey from cover to end pages, and as the adult boy tells his old friend once more about the adventures they will have, his dreams unfold like the wind.

Luminous. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: May 2, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-4814-7101-5

Page Count: 48

Publisher: McElderry

Review Posted Online: March 5, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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BETTER THAN A TOUCHDOWN

by Jalen Hurts ; illustrated by Nneka Myers ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 10, 2026

Earnest and well meaning but not quite a touchdown.

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In Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Hurts’ motivational picture book, a youngster rebounds from disappointment.

As Jalen heads off on his first day of school, he daydreams about joining the football team, but his friend Trey soon breaks the bad news. The garden club needed more space for vegetables, so the football field was used for planting. There will be no football this year. Jalen is despondent, but his teachers Mrs. Lee and Mr. Barry and bodega owner Mr. Muhammad offer guidance that spurs him and his friends into positive action. They work to flip a nearby empty lot into a football field, with Jalen echoing his mentors’ adages. Once the field is complete, Jalen feels a swell of pride in his and his friends’ work. While the idea of kids working together to effect change is a laudable one, the bland, wordy storytelling won’t inspire young people or hold their attention. Tired, cliched inspirational comments peppered throughout often slow down the narrative, and many adult readers will find the premise—a school dropping a high-interest sports program in favor of a community garden—wildly unrealistic. Though the illustrations are colorful, with a Disney Junior charm, strange stylistic choices, such as signs with odd combinations of scribbles instead of letters, give them an unpolished look. Like Hurts, Jalen is Black; his community is diverse.

Earnest and well meaning but not quite a touchdown. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: March 10, 2026

ISBN: 9798217040308

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Flamingo Books

Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS

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BEST BUNNY BROTHER EVER

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Tim Bowers ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 6, 2026

A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note.

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Little Honey Bunny Funnybunny loves baseball almost as much as she loves her big brother P.J.—though it’s a close-run thing.

Readers familiar with the pranks P.J. plays on his younger sibling in older episodes of the series (most illustrated by Roger Bollen) will be amused—and perhaps a little confused—to see him in the role of perfect big brother after meeting his swaddled little sister for the first time in mama’s lap. But here, along with being a constant companion and “always happy to see her,” he cements his heroic status in her eyes by hitting a home run for his baseball team and then patiently teaching her how to play T-ball. After carefully coaching her and leading her through warm-up exercises, he even sits in the stands, loudly cheering her on as she scores the winning run in her own very first game. “‘You are the best brother a bunny could ever have!’” she burbles. This tale’s a tad blander compared with others centered on P.J. and his sister, but it’s undeniably cheery, with text well structured for burgeoning readers. The all-smiles animal cast in Bowers’ cartoon art features a large and diversely hued family of bunnies sporting immense floppy ears as well as a multispecies crowd of furry onlookers equally varied of color, with one spectator in a wheelchair.

A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note. (Early reader. 6-8)