An upbeat tale infused with a “teamwork makes the dream work” message.
A determined young paleontologist-to-be wrestles with a gift that doesn’t evolve as expected.
Della Goldberg’s 11th birthday party, dinosaur-themed of course, is a flop. Not one of her classmates shows up. Her heartbreak is eased when her free-spirited paleontologist granny breezes in with a present: a prototype “Design Your Own Dinosaur” kit for Della to test out. Granny will return in time for Shabbat dinner this Friday to pick up Della’s fast-growing creation. But when Della’s fashion-forward classmate and ex-friend Avery peeks in the incubator, Della’s carefully designed creation short-circuits, resulting in a pink, glittery surprise. Crestfallen and convinced that Granny will be horrified, Della decides to hide the hatchling, dubbed Glamosaurus. It will take all of her paleontological know-how, plus help from the entire fifth grade, to keep the Glam safe, fed, and out of adult sight. Rubinstein ably balances Della’s interpersonal conflicts with the dino drama, and her trajectory from loner to thoughtful, confident friend is believable and authentic. Though Della’s parents are loving and helpful, in general the youngsters have the edge on the adults, who panic when they discover Glamosaurus. Bye’s black-and-white illustrations capture Della’s paleontologist’s trappings as well as horned, speckled Glam’s unique look. Physical descriptors are minimal, but classmate names cue diversity, and Della and her family are Jewish.
An upbeat tale infused with a “teamwork makes the dream work” message. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2026
ISBN: 9781250419040
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Godwin Books
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2026
A successful call for creating and imagining, even if the story itself falls short.
In the dystopian, totalitarian world of 2099, 14-year-old Tessa and her family are desperate to solve the mystery of her twin brother Theo’s disappearance.
Tessa is growing up in a time when playgrounds are historical relics, surveillance cameras are everywhere, music is outlawed, and owning books is illegal. Under the absolute rule of Zokiris, the decadeslong leader of her territory, people are heavily controlled. When Theo vanishes under mysterious circumstances and his name is erased from the Territory Statistics list, Tessa’s 135-year-old neighbor, Miriam, gives the family contraband books that become central to figuring out Theo’s whereabouts. Most books have long since been seized and stored away in Building 903; Tessa is intrigued by their presence in her home, while her mother is terrified. Lowry, the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Giver (1993), shines in her creation of uncomfortably believable dystopian societies. Tessa’s painfully limited world is fully imagined, with its own history, laws, and norms. Her relationship with her brother reads as realistic and tender and is crucial to the mystery. Miriam is the most strongly developed character: wise and independent, unafraid and hopeful. While the climb to the book’s climax is captivating, the hurried resolution is disappointing. The powerful messaging around the importance of literature and imagination certainly resonates, however. The main characters present white.
A successful call for creating and imagining, even if the story itself falls short. (Dystopian. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9780063515109
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
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