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ITTY BITTY BETTY BLOB MAKES A SPLASH

Name: ITTY BITTY BETTY BLOB MAKES A SPLASH
Author: Constance Lombardo
ISBN: 9781662640926

by Constance Lombardo ; illustrated by Micah Player ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 19, 2025

As pink and frothy as cotton candy.

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Betty is back, and this time she struggles with which activity to join as the new school year starts.

First introduced in Itty Bitty Betty Blob (2024), the pink monster with an ever-shifting body learned to embrace her cheerful persona, even though it made her different from her cranky classmates. In this companion story, her mother would prefer that she select the “Dreary Drama Club” for her extracurricular activity, since the “Devil Divers” group that piques her daughter’s interest sounds too rough. Unfortunately, the protagonist’s nerves take over at the audition, and after a literally blobby meltdown, Betty puddles to the pool, makes the team, and ultimately wins the championship by executing her “divine dive” instead of the expected bellyflop. Once again, she gleans that being true to herself is the best way to be. The hand lettering and palette recall the first book, with its digital black/brown and white scenes, punctuated with color wherever Betty and her rainbow-hued puff friends make an entrance. Shifting perspectives add drama. Alliteration, occasional rhymes, and playful word substitutions make this a pleasing, humorous read-aloud: “While typical monsters played hide-and-shriek, / Betty frolicked in the forest with her friends.” Children will relate to the range of emotions depicted and the desires that conflict with the adults in their lives.

As pink and frothy as cotton candy. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Aug. 19, 2025

ISBN: 9781662640926

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Hippo Park/Astra Books for Young Readers

Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S PARANORMAL & SUPERNATURAL

- BOOK REVIEW
ITTY BITTY BETTY BLOB
by Constance Lombardo ; illustrated by Micah Player

- BOOK REVIEW
TINY SPOON VS. LITTLE FORK
by Constance Lombardo ; illustrated by Dan Abdo & Jason Patterson

- BOOK REVIEW
EVERYBODY SAYS MEOW
by Constance Lombardo ; illustrated by Constance Lombardo

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
A PERFECT PLACE TO PLAY
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Jim Valeri

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.

Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)