Uplifting, inclusive, and powerful.
A diverse community of people come together on a sunny day to celebrate Pride.
Three young Black friends mingle amid the crowd, “our hearts…full of love / as we move to the beats / pumping into the air.” Rainbow flags swirl around the protagonists, sending a message of love and inclusivity. Suddenly, rain clouds appear, drenching the participants and shifting the palette to hues of blacks and grays. The bright colors never entirely disappear, however, as people shelter under umbrellas while standing side by side. Eventually, the clouds depart, a rainbow emerges, and the celebration continues, ultimately stronger for having weathered the storm. Salinas’ bold, bright, mural-like illustrations command attention. They’ll easily be seen from across a crowded storytime or classroom, though they brim with details for observant readers to pick out; each scene seems to tell its own story. Laden with delightful alliteration, Ayala-Kronos’ clear, concise text (“we marvel at our magnificent / community,” “flamboyant floats”) begs to be read aloud. Messages of love, support, and resilience are effortlessly woven through, and readers—adults and children alike—will easily make connections between the book and their own lives. Characters are diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, and ability.
Uplifting, inclusive, and powerful. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9780063378360
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
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
Not enough tricks to make this a treat.
Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.
Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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