In this lyrical, bilingual story, a grandmother’s knowledge reveals wonders.
An Anishinaabe grandmother teaches her grandchild that by close observation, the natural world of plants, insects, animals, and birds will reveal how to know when seasons change from one to the next.
Written in English and translated into Anishinaabemowin by the Corbieres, an Anishinaabe father and son pair, the story begins with the question, “Aaniish ezhi-gkedmaanh niibing? / How do I know summer is here?” This question is repeated for fall, winter, and spring, the Anishinaabemowin always preceding the English on the page. The grandchild learns how to recognize nature’s signs of the changing seasons by watching and paying attention. With easily understood explanations, the elder shows how nature accommodates plants and animals, birds and insects. “When yellow Bumblebee collects purple fireweed…blueberries drop readily, [and] the sun slips into an orange dream,” summer is here. The arrival of fall is signaled “when Mallard feasts on yellow corn, and Black Bear licks the ant pile clean”; winter is on its way when “gray Mouse sneaks inside for warmth”; and spring is heralded by “brown Peeper sing[ing], ‘Goodnight, little one.’ ” Luby draws on her Anishinaabe heritage and time as a child with elders as inspiration for this gentle intergenerational tale set in the present day. Ojibwe Woodland artist Pawis-Steckley renders the scenes with bold outlines and jewel colors, many figures gently styled with traditional designs. (This book was reviewed digitally with 8.5-by-19.5-inch double-page spreads viewed at 50.7% of actual size.)
In this lyrical, bilingual story, a grandmother’s knowledge reveals wonders. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-77306-326-3
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
As ephemeral as a valentine.
Daywalt and Jeffers’ wandering crayons explore love.
Each double-page spread offers readers a vision of one of the anthropomorphic crayons on the left along with the statement “Love is [color].” The word love is represented by a small heart in the appropriate color. Opposite, childlike crayon drawings explain how that color represents love. So, readers learn, “love is green. / Because love is helpful.” The accompanying crayon drawing depicts two alligators, one holding a recycling bin and the other tossing a plastic cup into it, offering readers two ways of understanding green. Some statements are thought-provoking: “Love is white. / Because sometimes love is hard to see,” reaches beyond the immediate image of a cat’s yellow eyes, pink nose, and black mouth and whiskers, its white face and body indistinguishable from the paper it’s drawn on, to prompt real questions. “Love is brown. / Because sometimes love stinks,” on the other hand, depicted by a brown bear standing next to a brown, squiggly turd, may provoke giggles but is fundamentally a cheap laugh. Some of the color assignments have a distinctly arbitrary feel: Why is purple associated with the imagination and pink with silliness? Fans of The Day the Crayons Quit (2013) hoping for more clever, metaliterary fun will be disappointed by this rather syrupy read.
As ephemeral as a valentine. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Dec. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5247-9268-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A bit predictable but pleasantly illustrated.
Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault’s classic alphabet book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989) gets the Halloween treatment.
Chung follows the original formula to the letter. In alphabetical order, each letter climbs to the top of a tree. They are knocked back to the ground in a jumble before climbing up in sequence again. In homage to the spooky holiday theme, they scale a “creaky old tree,” and a ghostly jump scare causes the pileup. The chunky, colorful art is instantly recognizable. The charmingly costumed letters (“H swings a tail. / I wears a patch. J and K don / bows that don’t match”) are set against a dark backdrop, framed by pages with orange or purple borders. The spreads feature spiderwebs and jack-o’-lanterns. The familiar rhyme cadence is marred by the occasional clunky or awkward phrase; in particular, the adapted refrain of “Chicka chicka tricka treat” offers tongue-twisting fun, but it’s repeatedly followed by the disappointing half-rhyme “Everybody sneaka sneak.” Even this odd construction feels shoehorned into place, since “sneaking” makes little sense when every character in the book is climbing together. The final line of the book ends on a more satisfying note, with “Everybody—time to eat!”
A bit predictable but pleasantly illustrated. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9781665954785
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
