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
This lacks the information of other nonfiction titles and the pizzazz of April Pulley Sayre’s Go, Go, Grapes! (2012), but it...
The prolific Gibbons tackles fruits—how they grow, their parts, and what portions we eat.
Beginning with facts about perennial and annual fruits and how many servings children should aim for each day, the book then looks at how fruits can grow on plants, bushes, vines, and trees. Good vocabulary is introduced and defined along the way—botanist, pollination, cultivated. The middle of the book is taken up by individual looks at 13 different kinds of fruits that show cutaway views labeled with parts, the whole plant/bush/vine/tree, and some of the popular varieties—for grapes, golden muscat, red flame, and concord. This is followed by a discussion of growing seasons and climates, large farms versus backyard ones, harvesting fruit and getting it to market, and some other fruits that were not featured in the text, including star fruits, apricots, and persimmons. A final page lists more fruit facts and two websites (one for the United States, one for Canada) about food guidelines. The text sometimes gets lost in Gibbons’ busy and full pages, and while her illustrations are detailed and specific for each type of fruit, the watercolors won’t make mouths water.
This lacks the information of other nonfiction titles and the pizzazz of April Pulley Sayre’s Go, Go, Grapes! (2012), but it may be just the ticket before a school trip to a farm. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3204-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2015
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
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