Rocking sea rhythms and energetic art combine for a future read-aloud favorite.
A family of fishers are ready for a day of fishing.
Early one morning, a mustached adult, two kids—all brown-skinned and wearing life vests over warm clothes—and their dog launch a small green outboard skiff from a rocky beach. An intriguing overhead view depicts gulls, alert to possible food, soaring nearby as the humans deploy their gillnet, made up of vertical panels of netting. The fishers come across puffins, otter pups, and harbor seals. Beluga whales peer up at the boat from below—another enticingly angled image—and an orca draws close to the prow. All these creatures are “searching for a snack in the wide, blue sea.” Unfortunately, the fishers’ next encounter is with a “gloomy thundercloud, menacing and gray.” Reassuringly, the boat immediately emerges from the storm, “solid and secure…steady and sure.” The nets on each side have remained spread, and now a salmon run is hauled in, “fish for all of us in the wide, blue sea.” The author’s note and glossary offer useful bits of information and suggest that the book’s setting is Alaska. Gillnets, which often inadvertently trap wildlife, are controversial (and in some places illegal), but Hartman cites their positive aspects. Brightly colored, simplified, but realistic double spreads with varied fonts superimposed provide animated scenes, alongside exuberant rhymes and repeated refrains.
Rocking sea rhythms and energetic art combine for a future read-aloud favorite. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2026
ISBN: 9781636552040
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Red Comet Press
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Just the thing for anyone with a Grinch-y tree of their own in the yard.
A grouchy sapling on a Christmas tree farm finds that there are better things than lights and decorations for its branches.
A Grinch among the other trees on the farm is determined never to become a sappy Christmas tree—and never to leave its spot. Its determination makes it so: It grows gnarled and twisted and needle-less. As time passes, the farm is swallowed by the suburbs. The neighborhood kids dare one another to climb the scary, grumpy-looking tree, and soon, they are using its branches for their imaginative play, the tree serving as a pirate ship, a fort, a spaceship, and a dragon. But in winter, the tree stands alone and feels bereft and lonely for the first time ever, and it can’t look away from the decorated tree inside the house next to its lot. When some parents threaten to cut the “horrible” tree down, the tree thinks, “Not now that my limbs are full of happy children,” showing how far it has come. Happily for the tree, the children won’t give up so easily, and though the tree never wished to become a Christmas tree, it’s perfectly content being a “trick or tree.” Martinez’s digital illustrations play up the humorous dichotomy between the happy, aspiring Christmas trees (and their shoppers) and the grumpy tree, and the diverse humans are satisfyingly expressive.
Just the thing for anyone with a Grinch-y tree of their own in the yard. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-7335-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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