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
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2026
Not astonishingly go-out-and-buy-it-at-graduation inspirational, but all it takes is one seed of change to be planted.
Imagination soars—quite literally—when a little girl follows her own set of rules.
Every year Oak Hill School has a go-kart race called the Going Places contest. Students are given identical go-kart kits with a precise set of instructions. And of course, every single kart ends up exactly the same. Every one, that is, except Maya’s. Maya is a dreamy artist, and she would rather sketch birds in her backyard than get caught up in the competition. When she finally does start working, she uses the parts in the go-kart box but creates something completely different. No one ever said it had to be a go-kart. Maya’s creative thinking inspires Rafael, her neighbor (and the most enthusiastic Going Places contestant), to ask to team up. The instructions never say they couldn’t work together, either! An ode to creativity and individuality to be sure, but the Reynolds brothers are also taking a swipe at modern education: Endless repetition and following instructions without question create a culture of conformity. Hopefully now, readers will see infinite possibility every time the system hands them an identical go-kart box.
Not astonishingly go-out-and-buy-it-at-graduation inspirational, but all it takes is one seed of change to be planted. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-6608-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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