A silly, sweet story about managing mess-ups and accepting support.
A tough start turns into a good day.
Millie Fleur, a goofy goth girl bearing a resemblance to Wednesday Addams, has finally settled into her new town, Garden Glen. This latest entry in the series finds her preparing for the Butterbloom Fest. She wants to make her “whizbang wonder cake” for the bake-off; in her eagerness to succeed, she sets herself up for failure. She stays up too late researching and wakes up with a case of the “morgenmuffels,” a grouchy mood embodied by a crew of fluffy monsters sporting spiky purple horns and tiny purple pants. Millie’s ill-fated pastry preparation produces a towering, teetering cake monster with drippy blue icing and googly eyes. Millie treks to the festival carrying the cake, the morgenmuffels, and an unwieldy assortment of household objects on her back. Utterly overwhelmed but refusing assistance, she topples over with a tremendous crash. Her friends swoop in to help and to share their own struggles. With their kind support, Millie’s first festival soon becomes a happy one—enjoyably imperfect and perfectly enjoyable. Mandin’s text is light and friendly, with ample alliteration. Fair festivities include the “Big Bubble Battle” and the “Perfect Pet Parade.” Cartoonish illustrations highlight Garden Glen’s quaint cuteness while also capturing the literal weight of Millie’s frustration. Millie is pale-skinned; her friend group is diverse.
A silly, sweet story about managing mess-ups and accepting support. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9781546160182
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Spires’ understanding of the fragility and power of the artistic impulse mixes with expert pacing and subtle...
Making things is difficult work. Readers will recognize the stages of this young heroine’s experience as she struggles to realize her vision.
First comes anticipation. The artist/engineer is spotted jauntily pulling a wagonload of junkyard treasures. Accompanied by her trusty canine companion, she begins drawing plans and building an assemblage. The narration has a breezy tone: “[S]he makes things all the time. Easy-peasy!” The colorful caricatures and creations contrast with the digital black outlines on a white background that depict an urban neighborhood. Intermittent blue-gray panels break up the white expanses on selected pages showing sequential actions. When the first piece doesn’t turn out as desired, the protagonist tries again, hoping to achieve magnificence. A model of persistence, she tries many adjustments; the vocabulary alone offers constructive behaviors: she “tinkers,” “wrenches,” “fiddles,” “examines,” “stares” and “tweaks.” Such hard work, however, combines with disappointing results, eventually leading to frustration, anger and injury. Explosive emotions are followed by defeat, portrayed with a small font and scaled-down figures. When the dog, whose expressions have humorously mirrored his owner’s through each phase, retrieves his leash, the resulting stroll serves them well. A fresh perspective brings renewed enthusiasm and—spoiler alert—a most magnificent scooter sidecar for a loyal assistant.
Spires’ understanding of the fragility and power of the artistic impulse mixes with expert pacing and subtle characterization for maximum delight. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-55453-704-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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