A humorous reminder that nobody’s perfect, but some skills do come naturally, eventually.
Brush off your best farmyard imitation skills and meet a cow who can’t moo.
Harlow the highland cow is utterly adorable. She has “oodles of WOW!” Her shaggy coat gleams, her horns win her best in show at the county fair, and she can decorate, dance, cook, and bake, but there’s just one problem: Harlow cannot moo. She can tend the sheep and crochet their wool into socks, she can mend the chicken coop, and she can even rescue a stranded kitten from the roof, but try as she might, she can’t moo. Hartman’s lively rhyming text and page after page of Leschnikoff’s eye-catching, uncluttered illustrations create a humorous read-aloud that reminds us that sometimes triumph comes when we stop trying quite so hard. An unseen narrator encourages Harlow throughout (“So please, Harlow: moo! And don’t just ad-lib it. / Perk up that posh Highland head and say MMMM…”). Children will soon be urging Harlow to moo and, following the strategic page-turns, mimicking Harlow as she listens to the sounds of other farm mates and unsuccessfully works on her moo (“MIBBIT MIBBIT” and “MOINK! MOINK! MOINK!” are among her hilarious efforts). The final page is a guaranteed giggle.
A humorous reminder that nobody’s perfect, but some skills do come naturally, eventually. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9780063513518
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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