A sweet, comforting, and encouraging Viking tale about friendship and compassion.
A young Viking worries about being different in this illustrated children’s book.
Klippe, a pale-skinned, redheaded Viking who wears a helmet with two horns, doesn’t think she fits in: “Klippe feels that she cannot keep up at School. That she does not understand the jokes the other kids make. That she cannot play the games, she wants to.” But one by one, other kids reach out to Klippe to show her that she belongs. Kanin reveals to Klippe that she also faces difficulties in school; after studying together, they find the answers to the questions they didn’t understand. When Klippe feels left out in a boisterous Viking group, one of the children thanks her for being caring and supporting others. Klippe realizes that even though she acts differently than the other kids, they see her strengths and love her. When Tyr invites Klippe to spar, she hesitates because she has never tried it. But Tyr makes her feel comfortable and Klippe realizes that she is a natural; all she had to do was try. While Klippe’s struggle is internal, these big emotions are very real, and her conflict with her own thoughts and feelings comes to an empowered resolution that young readers will appreciate. In this enjoyable and uplifting tale, Fyrre’s sentence structure is sometimes stilted, but the simple vocabulary makes the book accessible. Kini’s cartoon illustrations are eye-catching, full of funny hats, swords, and shields for the Vikings as well as a goose companion for Klippe. The characters’ varied skin tones reflect both modern diversity and the many lands where historical Vikings roamed, though the setting itself is far more fantastical and reminiscent of Cressida Cowell’s Berk in the How To Train Your Dragon series. The kindness of Klippe’s community offers an entry point for young readers to discuss their own feelings of being different.
A sweet, comforting, and encouraging Viking tale about friendship and compassion.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-648-81602-7
Page Count: 60
Publisher: Boogamedia
Review Posted Online: Oct. 19, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
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: yesterday
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2026
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