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FLY AWAY HOME

Name: FLY AWAY HOME
Author: Betty Quan
ISBN: 9781773069623

by Betty Quan ; illustrated by Akin Duzakin ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 7, 2026

A conversation starter that draws intriguing parallels between human and avian migration.

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Animals and people make a long and arduous trek.

An unseen narrator repeatedly urges a small white bird to “fly away home”; the journey taken by this creature parallels that of humans fleeing, their destination unknown, but certainly not home. In the foreground a backpack-carrying adult holds the hand of a child, while silhouettes of similarly burdened figures edge the distant background. They encounter a series of local antagonists, flocks labeled “a troubling of hummingbirds,” “a mischief of magpies,” a “deceit of lapwings,” “a mob of crows,” and “a chain of bobolinks.” The people travel “under cover of night,” past blackened ruins, beneath threatening skies, and find support from “an asylum of cuckoos,” a “pitying of doves,” and “a gift of robins.” Finally, the human child and the dove meet on a balcony overlooking a green city park. At times the awkward rhymes and half rhymes make the text a challenge to read aloud, and youngsters unfamiliar with the concept of collective animal nouns will need context from educators or caregivers. Still, Quan’s imagery is inspired, and Duzakin’s edgeless, soft pastel illustrations fill in the gaps; the visuals are alternatively joyful and somber, bright colors alternating with bleak. Migration is a complex concept, and this tale opens the door for dialogue. The protagonists are pale-skinned.

A conversation starter that draws intriguing parallels between human and avian migration. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: April 7, 2026

ISBN: 9781773069623

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Groundwood

Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
GRANDMOTHER'S VISIT
by Betty Quan ; illustrated by Carmen Mok

PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

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PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

by James Dean ; illustrated by James Dean ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 18, 2018

Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among

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Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.

If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”

Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018

ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

- BOOK REVIEW
PETE THE KITTY AND THE BEANSTALK
by James Dean & Kimberly Dean ; illustrated by James Dean

- BOOK REVIEW
PETE THE KITTY'S FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL
by Kimberly Dean ; illustrated by James Dean

- BOOK REVIEW
I LOVE PETE THE KITTY
by James Dean & Kimberly Dean ; illustrated by James Dean

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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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)