bookshelf

WHAT COMES AFTER THE SNOW?

Name: WHAT COMES AFTER THE SNOW?
Author: Chiaki Okada
ISBN: 9781835750087

by Chiaki Okada ; illustrated by Ko Okada ; translated by Julie Wright ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 15, 2026

Utterly affecting.

bookshelf

How do you explain spring to someone who has only ever known snow?

Bramble is the smallest rabbit in a large family, too little to reach the branch her brothers easily hop up to. From their perch, they yell that spring will be here soon. Bramble’s never experienced the season but is eager to see it for herself. Slipping out alone one winter morning, she meets a wandering polar bear and asks him, with perfect earnestness, “Are you the spring?” What ensues is a surprisingly tender walk through the woods that leaves young Bramble feeling empowered. Rendered in graphite and colored pencil, then finished digitally, the illustrations bathe this Japanese import in deep, hushed winter whites and grays: snow-laden pine boughs brought to life through meticulous crosshatching, bare deciduous trees etched against the early morning blue and pink sky. Against this winter whiteness, the rabbit family’s warm brown fur glows with almost touchable softness, each young rabbit distinct in personality. The scale contrasts throughout feel as musical as the spare yet eloquent prose: the enormous, gentle polar bear filling an entire spread beside Bramble, who’s hardly bigger than his paw, her tiny footprints trailing across an otherwise empty expanse of snow. The Okadas, a husband-and-wife team, capture both the shifting seasons and the complicated emotions of childhood—the frustration of feeling too small, the deep satisfaction of achieving an out-of-reach goal (with help from a friend).

Utterly affecting. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2026

ISBN: 9781835750087

Page Count: 36

Publisher: Floris

Review Posted Online: June 1, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
TWO LITTLE RED MITTENS
by Kirin Hayashi ; illustrated by Chiaki Okada ; translated by Avery Fischer Udagawa

bookshelf

THE PUMPKIN THIEF

From the Leaf Thief series

by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nicola Slater ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 28, 2026

More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.

bookshelf

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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE SUN THIEF
by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nicola Slater

- BOOK REVIEW
THE SNOW THIEF
by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nicola Slater

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BISON AND THE BUTTERFLY
by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nancy Leschnikoff

PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

bookshelf

PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

by James Dean ; illustrated by James Dean ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 18, 2018

Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among

bookshelf

Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.

If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”

Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)