A sweet, uplifting, and entertaining tale that encourages love and acceptance.
In Burks’ picture book, a small blue fish discovers the beauty of other colors.
Bo, who ordinarily lives comfortably alone in a cave, is mysteriously transported to a part of the ocean with only red fish. One of the fish offers to cover up his blue scales, so that no one will see that he’s different, but the attempt fails, leaving Bo feeling homesick. He then discovers green fish, and a cove shining with “colorful lights.” There, Bo finds a sea turtle with a wispy beard who explains, “I’m the Creator and you’re My work of art….All that I paint are reflections of Me. You and your friends—EVERY fish in the sea.” Bo comes to understand that the different colored fish are stronger when they “join in friendship.” Consul’s cartoon illustrations are bright, sometimes leaning toward a kaleidoscopic feel with their many patterns and colors. Even the typeface itself is occasionally multicolored (blue for blue, rainbow for colorful), which follows the story’s theme. Burks conveys an important message of inclusivity through a playful, mostly smooth ABCB rhyme scheme. There are no direct mentions of God, but the depiction of the Creator has clear religious overtones.
A sweet, uplifting, and entertaining tale that encourages love and acceptance.Pub Date: March 4, 2025
ISBN: 9798990251014
Page Count: 46
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: March 4, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A reassuring riff on embracing imperfections.
A young rabbit frets about her upcoming violin performance in Icelandic singer-songwriter Laufey’s literary debut.
Mei Mei’s dream—“to share her music with the world”—is about to come true. She’s having her very first recital, complete with an orchestra, at the H’Opera House. But the day before the concert, Mei Mei is racked with anxiety. What if she plays a bum note in front of everyone? Sure enough, the worst happens mid-performance: She hits a clinker. But by remembering her mom’s reassuring sentiments from the night before (“Feel the wind…find the notes to make it right”), Mei Mei summons the strength to soldier on, and “wrong notes become right. Dissonance becomes beautiful.” At times, it all feels more like a resilience parable than a story, and the writing can be precious (“The flutter of butterflies wakes Mei Mei from her slumber”). Still, the message is solid, bolstered by O’Hara’s pencil and watercolor illustrations, which are plush-toy soft—fitting, as even prior to this book’s publication, a stuffed Mei Mei has been for sale at Grammy winner Laufey’s website. The tale features an all-animal, all-adorable cast, and endearingly, the art betrays no hint of modern times. A standout image presents Mei Mei onstage, temporarily incapacitated by her mistake and imagining her fellow musicians and their instruments with the color-blasted menace of an expressionist painting.
A reassuring riff on embracing imperfections. (author’s note, glossary) (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: April 21, 2026
ISBN: 9798217051748
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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