Practical advice to help empower young worriers.
In this latest from actor Olsen and her husband, musician/writer Arnett, a feline “Worry Detective” once more helps her animal classmates conquer their fears.
It’s opening night of Wildwood Elementary’s school play, and anxieties abound. After receiving a call from Pearl Peppercorn, who needs help dealing with stage fright, Hattie Harmony is on the case with her Worry Detective Tool Belt. As the students prepare for showtime, Hattie provides others—including Seymour Swiggletooth, a member of the crew upset at having spilled paint, and Duncan Delmar, the play’s director, who frets when he can’t turn the stage lights back on—with coping strategies such as journaling, taking breaks, and breathing deeply. Hattie’s classmates—and Hattie herself—benefit from her anxiety-relieving strategies, which readers in similar situations will find valuable. An authors’ note explains various skills to help kids cope with anxiety, perfectionism, and overwhelming thoughts. Valdez’s illustrations are appealing. Hattie is a bespectacled, trench coat–wearing striped cat. The other animals have expressive faces and exaggerated features, like the buck teeth on Seymour, a beaver. Stage lights and flashlights (when the lights go off) bring several scenes to life, and there are plenty of details to take in. The story is straightforward, the writing without flourish, but it nevertheless presents concrete, useful suggestions for confronting anxiety. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Practical advice to help empower young worriers. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 13, 2023
ISBN: 9780593351468
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Another empowering outing led by a dynamic young role model.
The third title in the Ambitious Girl series finds young Maya wanting accomplished women to get their due.
On a school trip to Washington, D.C., brown-skinned, bubble-braided Maya is full of questions, among them “How many representatives are there?” and, while checking out the statues and monuments, “Where are all the women?” Maya’s teacher tells her that they’ve seen all the “popular” statues and monuments. Maya is as dogged (“But what about Eleanor Roosevelt? Or Mary McLeod Bethune?”) as her teacher is dismissive: “Those aren’t on my list.” (Maya’s teacher follows the same list every trip.) Back at home, Maya is newly awakened to the lack of female representation in her orbit—she notices that streets and “even her own school” are named for men. Is there anything she can do about this? Maya’s teacher’s cluelessness feels a bit implausible, more like a plot device to steer the story in the right direction, but Maya’s righteous indignation is believable, and her corresponding activism will energize readers. Valdez gets into the spirit of things with her invigorating digital art: Maya and her multiethnic classmates and neighbors are colorful dressers with smiling faces, which fosters a sense that wherever Maya goes, a warm and ebullient community is there for her.
Another empowering outing led by a dynamic young role model. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9780316561341
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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