An adorable counter to anxiety, featuring easy exercises and charming Antarctic animals.
Amid a vast polar terrain, a small penguin becomes overstimulated.
Starting from the very first page (in which a group of the flightless birds slumber in an adorable heap), this book aims to hit readers right in the feels. Penguin (made easy to spot by a heart-shaped patch of chest feathers) loves his pals, though they are very, very noisy. They squawk, while his aptly named baby sister, Pip, emits a “pip.” Their many wintry activities are fun but equally loud (“thump,” “crack,” “whoosh”), and the stress sometimes makes Penguin’s heart pound. Angry and frustrated, Penguin asks his non-penguin friends how they “feel zen.” Blue Whale relies on deep breathing; Seal loves yoga; Gull enjoys gardening. Penguin tries all these practices and soon finds the external stressors balanced by his “calm and quiet inside.” When he hears someone crying out for help, he applies what he has learned to untangle Pip, a knitter, from the purple yarn that colorfully symbolizes the struggle with outside irritants. And Penguin earns his new name: Zenguin. Instructions for “finding calm” in four specific, practical ways (belly breathing, drawing, finger play, and hugging oneself) end the book. The simple story is well paced, accessible, and engaging, and the darling gray-and-white penguins, with warm orange beaks and toes, who look like living stuffies, are sweet fluffballs.
An adorable counter to anxiety, featuring easy exercises and charming Antarctic animals. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9781523528660
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it.
What happens when a robot washes up alone on an island?
“Everything was just right on the island.” Brown beautifully re-creates the first days of Roz, the protagonist of his Wild Robot novels, as she adapts to living in the natural world. A storm-tossed ship, seen in the opening just before the title page, and a packing crate are the only other human-made objects to appear in this close-up look at the robot and her new home. Roz emerges from the crate, and her first thought as she sets off up a grassy hill—”This must be where I belong”—is sweetly glorious, a note of recognition rather than conquest. Roz learns to move, hide, and communicate like the creatures she meets. When she discovers an orphaned egg—and the gosling Brightbill, who eventually hatches—her decision to be his mother seems a natural extension of her adaptation. Once he flies south for the winter, her quiet wait across seasons for his return is a poignant portrayal of separation and change. Brown’s clean, precise lines and deep, light-filled colors offer a sense of what Roz might be seeing, suggesting a place that is alive yet deeply serene and radiant. Though the book stands alone, it adds an immensely appealing dimension to Roz’s world. Round thumbnails offer charming peeks into the island world, depicting Roz’s animal neighbors and Brightbill’s maturation.
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780316669467
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
A bit predictable but pleasantly illustrated.
Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault’s classic alphabet book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989) gets the Halloween treatment.
Chung follows the original formula to the letter. In alphabetical order, each letter climbs to the top of a tree. They are knocked back to the ground in a jumble before climbing up in sequence again. In homage to the spooky holiday theme, they scale a “creaky old tree,” and a ghostly jump scare causes the pileup. The chunky, colorful art is instantly recognizable. The charmingly costumed letters (“H swings a tail. / I wears a patch. J and K don / bows that don’t match”) are set against a dark backdrop, framed by pages with orange or purple borders. The spreads feature spiderwebs and jack-o’-lanterns. The familiar rhyme cadence is marred by the occasional clunky or awkward phrase; in particular, the adapted refrain of “Chicka chicka tricka treat” offers tongue-twisting fun, but it’s repeatedly followed by the disappointing half-rhyme “Everybody sneaka sneak.” Even this odd construction feels shoehorned into place, since “sneaking” makes little sense when every character in the book is climbing together. The final line of the book ends on a more satisfying note, with “Everybody—time to eat!”
A bit predictable but pleasantly illustrated. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9781665954785
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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