Nothing heavy here, just good times with good beaver buddies.
Two beaver friends take on a swimming challenge.
Chip and Ben, young beaver pals featured in two previous books by Beyl, love to swim together, but it's usually an excuse to dive for rocks and explore the area near each other’s homes. When Catfish urges them to race with him to the far end of Beaver Pond, it's a huge deal for the youngsters, since they’ve “never swum all the way across the pond.” Readers may detect a contradiction here since the beavers would have had to swim all the way across the pond to get to each other’s homes, but close inspection of the artwork reveals that Ben’s family has a motorboat-style sailing vessel made out of a hollowed tree trunk. Chip, who narrates the book, has qualms about the long swim, but Ben says that “it'll be an adventure!” With their parents’ permission, the two venture out. Ben speeds ahead, but Chip struggles. “I wish I were pretending and exploring with Ben. This isn't fun anymore,” he laments. Best friend that he is, Ben slows down to wait for Chip, and the two finish the journey together. This ode to friendship is heartwarming and includes inventive touches like “twig-and-maple-leaf sandwiches.” Beyl’s cartoony illustrations are expressive and engaging throughout; of particular note is a double-page map of the pond and surrounding landscape showing such intriguing landmarks as “Broken Canoe” and “Scary Stumps.” Chip and Ben are a delight, and their modest-yet-huge adventure’s a treat. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Nothing heavy here, just good times with good beaver buddies. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-8075-5464-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A flavorful call to action sure to spur young introverts.
In this latest slice in the Food Group series, Humble Pie learns to stand up to a busy friend who’s taking advantage of his pal’s hard work on the sidelines.
Jake the Cake and Humble Pie are good friends. Where Pie is content to toil in the background, Jake happily shines in the spotlight. Alert readers will notice that Pie’s always right there, too, getting A-pluses and skiing expertly just behind—while also doing the support work that keeps every school and social project humming. “Fact: Nobody notices pie when there’s cake nearby!” When the two friends pair up for a science project, things begin well. But when the overcommitted Jake makes excuse after excuse, showing up late or not at all, a panicked Pie realizes that they won’t finish in time. When Jake finally shows up on the night before the project’s due, Pie courageously confronts him. “And for once, I wasn’t going to sugarcoat it.” The friends talk it out and collaborate through the night for the project’s successful presentation in class the next day. John and Oswald’s winning recipe—plentiful puns and delightful visual jokes—has yielded another treat here. The narration does skew didactic as it wraps up: “There’s nothing wrong with having a tough conversation, asking for help, or making sure you’re being treated fairly.” But it’s all good fun, in service of some gentle lessons about social-emotional development.
A flavorful call to action sure to spur young introverts. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780063469730
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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