A thoughtful and important tale of teamwork, self-advocacy, and compassionate friends.
A group of animals helps a girl complete her least favorite task in this illustrated children’s book.
Miranda, a light-brown–skinned girl with green hair, is unhappy when her mother wants to wash and style her tresses before visiting Grandma. The girl runs into the woods to escape the dreaded chore. When she gets hungry, a tree offers her an apple and informs its cohorts of the girl’s presence to keep her safe. Miranda is upset when her hair snags on a bush. She asserts: “That’s what it feels like when Mom combs my hair. She pulls and she tugs, and it hurts everywhere.” Although the trees and the wild animals try to persuade Miranda to go home, she refuses. So, they team up to wash, brush, and gently style her hair. Each animal pitches in to help. For example, hummingbirds use “their small claws like a fine-tooth comb,” and a squirrel employs “her tail like a soft bristle brush.” The critters even use a honeysuckle vine to bind and braid the girl’s hair. Miranda is thrilled with the final look and tells her new pals: “Usually I hate this, you know that I do. But this wasn’t so bad! And it’s all thanks to you.” Miranda’s mom is relieved when her gleeful daughter returns home safe, and she is surprised by her new hairstyle. Miranda encourages readers to advocate for themselves: “If you’re the owner of frizzy green hair, please tell your mom to handle with care. It doesn’t take much to be ever so brave, when someone knows how to make green hair behave.” In Whyatt’s engaging tale, Miranda is a relatable protagonist. Her predicament will be significant to many young readers, especially those who also struggle with hair-care tasks. The overarching message here, emphasizing kindness, understanding, and collaboration during difficult times, is laudable. Wolfe and Valenti’s hand-drawn, digitally painted images offer cheerful scenery. Readers will particularly appreciate the enchanting forest sights and Miranda’s sweet-looking animal friends. The illustrations showing Miranda throughout the hair washing and styling process are clever, including when the hummingbirds create braids with their beaks.
A thoughtful and important tale of teamwork, self-advocacy, and compassionate friends.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: July 7, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
