SORREL AND THE SLEEPOVER

Name: SORREL AND THE SLEEPOVER
Author: Corrinne Averiss
ISBN: 978-1-4380-5056-0

by Corrinne Averiss ; illustrated by Susan Varley ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2018

The affirming message offers an important lesson about the joys of heterogeneity, so young listeners will likely enjoy...

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A little girl squirrel tries to hide the ways that she and her best friend are different.

Sorrel and Sage are simpatico school friends who love being alike. The trouble starts when Sage invites Sorrel to a sleepover. Sage’s home tree, a lush evergreen, is larger and houses lots more relatives than Sorrel’s. Ashamed and worried, Sorrel makes a series of creative excuses to avoid inviting Sage to her house. When their play takes them near Sorrel’s tree one day, however, Sage finds the old “broken and bumpy” cherry tree where Sorrel lives with her mother completely charming. Delightful ink-and-watercolor paintings create a cozy, decidedly British, and mostly old-fashioned world. The rabbit schoolteacher rings a hand bell, female characters are shown in skirts, and Sorrel and Sage carry satchels, but one picture shows a smartphone plugged in to charge. The airy, pastoral feel and engaging anthropomorphic characters keep the tone light and prevent the purposive plot from feeling preachy. The relatively lengthy text doesn’t quite measure up to the quality of the artwork; occasional rhymes seem out of place, and a lot of alliteration can make it somewhat awkward to read aloud.

The affirming message offers an important lesson about the joys of heterogeneity, so young listeners will likely enjoy making the acquaintance of Sorrel and Sage and pondering with them what makes a perfect friendship. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-4380-5056-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Barron's

Review Posted Online: June 10, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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JOY
by Corrinne Averiss ; illustrated by Isabelle Follath

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A DOT IN THE SNOW
by Corrinne Averiss ; illustrated by Fiona Woodcock

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK LOST AND FOUND

From the Little Blue Truck series

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 18, 2026

Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed.

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Beep! Beep! Beep! Toad and Little Blue Truck get ready for a hayride.

After the titular vehicle is loaded with hay, Toad is nowhere to be found. “Beep! Beep! Beep! Where are you, Toad?” asks Little Blue Truck. All the barnyard animals look for him. Sheep searches the meadow. Goose and Duck check the pond. Others pitch in, too, but Toad seems to have disappeared…until Hen hears snoring coming from the pile of hay in the back of Little Blue Truck. Although the text’s scansion is imperfect in places (adults may want to pre-read to ensure a smooth read-aloud), the bouncy meter and rhyming text nevertheless capture the energy of the search and the farmyard community’s concern for Toad’s safety, making this a solid storytime choice. Eye-catching illustrations with rich, fully saturated colors balance the right level of detail while still highlighting the animal that is the focus of each verse. By introducing one farm animal at a time, Schertle also helps the youngest readers begin to identify barnyard animals by name and understand their unique farm homes. Traditional animal sounds are part of the text, and listeners will add them to their vocabulary. It all ends with the promised hayride, bringing the tale to a joyous ending.

Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2026

ISBN: 9780063436121

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: July 20, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK AND RACER RED
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

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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)