Vivacious delight exudes from every page as young and old savor the refreshing rewards of summer.
A village gathers to celebrate the sweetness of summer.
“Under the blazing summer, the watermelon ripens.” Once this enormous melon cracks in half, its size becomes an invitation to dive in—literally: Welcome to “opening day at the watermelon pool.” An elder arrives first with a ladder, climbing up and in. He picks out a few large seeds before sinking down with a satisfying, “Mmm, nice and cool.” “The little rascals are so excited,” comment the villagers, who present East Asian. Indeed, children adorably garbed in bathing gear, prepared with colorful floats, shout out “YIPEE!” and “Wow!” When it becomes unbearably hot, the cloud seller appears with “cloud parasols and rain-cloud showers.” The elder makes a slide “THIS big” to connect the two halves of the watermelon. As the sun sets, the “colors of the world begin to fade,” and the last child heads home…but rest assured, the pool “will open again next year.” Working with colored pencil and drawing paper, pseudonymous Korean author/illustrator Bonsoir Lune presents irresistibly immersive spreads rife with whimsical details—wide-brimmed hats, a ready towel around the neck, fresh laundry being hung to dry for the energetic children to run under. Bonsoir Lune’s simple narrative, translated by bestselling Korean American author Cha, is energetically punctuated with onomatopoeic pit pats, AAAAs, PLOPs, THUNKs, oomphs, and even musical notes.
Vivacious delight exudes from every page as young and old savor the refreshing rewards of summer. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: June 2, 2026
ISBN: 9798217111787
Page Count: 60
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
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
A silly snack guaranteed to satisfy the funny bone; kids will eat it up and ask for more.
In this droll tale, ostensibly straightforward instructions are a recipe for absurdity.
To obtain the two slices of bread that a jelly sandwich calls for, a brown-skinned youngster named Frankie instructs readers to head to the store. But NOT to the bakery aisle! Instead, buy “one orange [traffic] cone, scuba flippers, and a yellow inner tube.” Using those items to fashion a duck disguise, you’ll score the bread from a brown-skinned elder feeding wildfowl in the park. And if the ducks see through your pretense, you might have to practice your “quack-cent.” Similar maneuvers are required to open the jelly jar: You’ll need peanuts, a playground with a “whirly-go-round,” and an elephant with a strong trunk grip. (But if the jar is carelessly opened upside down, you’ll get a “jellyphant.”) To spread the jelly, you must first scrub a dog in your bathtub. (Dip the clean tail in the jelly, then pet and praise the dog until it happily wags its tail over the bread slices.) Putting the slices together requires a knightly tournament, but cutting the sandwich, “the least complicated step of all,” involves training a hamster to ride a unicycle. The final pages propose an alternative (but just as outrageous) method and invite readers to think up their own ridiculous techniques. Burach’s scenarios are inventive and hilarious, while his exaggerated cartoon illustrations reinforce the delicious jokiness each step of the way.
A silly snack guaranteed to satisfy the funny bone; kids will eat it up and ask for more. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 21, 2026
ISBN: 9781338877090
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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