A solid addition to the early-reader shelf.
Mo, Jenna, and Dov will be a team in a relay race after school, so they practice passing their baton to one another after lunch, Mo pocketing his jelly doughnut to eat later. They use Jenna’s straw for the baton, and try as he might, Mo cannot maintain his grip on it. Later on, Mo finds the straw a distraction while in class. After school the track meet commences, and Mo stands close enough to the long jump that his friend Fran crashes into him, smashing the doughnut in his pocket. Mo happily eats the messy sweet treat, and then it’s time for the relay race, which Mo is anchoring. Their opponents drop the baton just as Jenna hands it to Mo, and thanks to the jelly all over his hand, he holds on all the way to the finish line! In Ricks’ friendly illustrations, Mo and Jenna both have brown skin and Afro-textured hair while Dov and Fran present White; their classmates are diverse. This fourth series entry is, like its predecessors, a great book to help emerging readers use context clues to infer words’ meanings. It will also help readers recognize the beginning, middle, and ending sounds of words—during class, the children practice AT words such as CAT and MAT, not to mention BATon. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-12-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
A solid addition to the early-reader shelf. (Early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: Nov. 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-984836-82-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2020
A charming tale of an athlete who may not steal any bases but who will certainly steal readers’ hearts.
Ohtani, pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, teams up with Blank and Liem to tell the story of how his dog, Decoy, threw out a ceremonial first pitch.
It’s a big day! Decoy leaps “off the bed. Then back onto the bed. Then off the bed.” The enthusiastic pup heads outside to practice with his lucky baseball but is quickly distracted by squirrels (“we’ll play later!”), airplanes (“flyin’ high!”), and flowers (“smell ya soon!”). Dog and pitcher then head to the ballpark. In the locker room, Decoy high-paws Shohei’s teammates. It’s nearly time! But as Shohei prepares to warm up, Decoy realizes that he’s forgotten something important: his lucky ball. Without it, there will be “no championships, no parades, and no hot dogs!” Back home he goes, returning just in time. With Shohei at the plate, Decoy runs from the mound to his owner, rolling the ball into Shohei’s mitt for a “Striiiiike!” Related from a dog’s point of view, Ohtani and Blank’s energetic text lends the tale a sense of urgency and suspense. Liem’s illustrations capture the excitement of the first day of baseball season and the joys of locker room camaraderie, as well as Shohei and Decoy’s mutual affection—even when the ball is drenched in slobber, Shohei’s love for his pet shines through, and clearly, Decoy is focused when it matters.
A charming tale of an athlete who may not steal any bases but who will certainly steal readers’ hearts. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9780063460775
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
An absolute pleasure.
A small dog takes a huge leap.
True to her name, sled dog puppy Leap spends her days bounding happily through blankets of freshly fallen snow, bouncily biding her time until she, too, can suit up for a run with the team. Each dog brings a different, equally essential skill to the work of mushing, and as too-young Leap greets the pack when they return from their daily hike, she worries—what if she lacks a special talent of her own when it’s her time to race? But when the much-anticipated day arrives and Leap clips in for her rookie run, her feet tippity-tap excitedly, any trace of self-doubt eclipsed by her irrepressible enthusiasm. With their new addition in tow, the other dogs take off, buoyed as ever by a confidence borne from specialized expertise; they confront obstacles head-on, sailing easily along icy Northwoods terrain. That is until the team encounters a seemingly insurmountable hurdle, one that only their greenest member can clear. Dogsled racer Braverman’s sweet narrative builds a satisfying case for individuality as a community asset, celebrating both the value of teamwork and the discrete strengths that comprise it. Savvy readers will take pride in predicting Leap’s unique contribution, while canine lovers will delight in the revelation that the pups depicted are all real-life sled dogs working in northern Wisconsin. When’s illustrations are equal parts spellbinding and precious, deftly balancing compositional simplicity with masterful color work. The result is peerless.
An absolute pleasure. (author’s note) (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9780063238053
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
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