Sweet, soothing, and enlightening—ideal for youngsters’ first forays into nonfiction.
In this tale based on actual events, a baby giraffe born with a unique look stands tall.
This calf is a solid tan color, without any spots. What a momentous, rare occurrence! The zookeepers’ shocked question—”Where are her spots?”—spreads throughout the zoo as the baby giraffe takes her first steps and wobbles outside. Everyone, from the visitors to the meerkats and penguins, asks about the newcomer’s lack of spots. Bright sunlit backdrops and even brighter, large-eyed characters give no hint of maliciousness; pure curiosity fuels their chattering. Mama reassures her little one with hushed advice at the end of the day: “Grow up strong and sure. Always stand tall. Be proud of who you are.” The zoo polls the public for ideas on what to name the calf. Votes are tallied worldwide, and the zoo decides on the name Kipekee, which means unique in Swahili. Verdick’s carefully chosen text, with internal rhymes and short phrasing, gently builds in momentum as Kipekee grows, reminding readers to be proud of what sets them apart. Backmatter notes that the real-life Kipekee was born at the Brights Zoo in Limestone, Tennessee, in 2023; some readers will wish for photographs of the spotless giraffe. Human characters are diverse.
Sweet, soothing, and enlightening—ideal for youngsters’ first forays into nonfiction. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 22, 2025
ISBN: 9781665962025
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on.
Sharpson offers so-fish-ticated readers a heads up about the true terror of the seas.
The title says it all. Our unseen narrator is just fine with other animals: mammals. Reptiles. Even birds. But fish? Don’t trust them! First off, the rules always seem to change with fish. Some live in fresh water; some reside in salt water. Some have gills, while others have lungs. You can never see what they’re up to, since they hang out underwater, and they’re always eating those poor, innocent crabs. Soon, the narrator introduces readers to Jeff, a vacant-eyed yellow fish—but don’t be fooled! Jeff’s “the craftiest fish of all.” All fish are, apparently, hellbent on world domination, the narrator warns. “DON’T TRUST FISH!” Finally, at the tail end, we get a sly glimpse of our unreliable narrator. Readers needn’t be ichthyologists to appreciate Sharpson’s meticulous comic timing. (“Ships always sink at sea. They never sink on land. Isn’t that strange?”) His delightful text, filled to the brim with jokes that read aloud brilliantly, pairs perfectly with Santat’s art, which shifts between extreme realism and goofy hilarity. He also fills the book with his own clever gags (such as an image of Gilligan’s Island’s S.S. Minnow going down and a bottle of sauce labeled “Surly Chik’n Srir’racha’r”).
A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 8, 2025
ISBN: 9780593616673
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
PERSPECTIVES
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children.
Social-equity themes are presented to children in ABC format.
Terms related to intersectional inequality, such as “class,” “gender,” “privilege,” “oppression,” “race,” and “sex,” as well as other topics important to social justice such as “feminism,” “human being,” “immigration,” “justice,” “kindness,” “multicultural,” “transgender,” “understanding,” and “value” are named and explained. There are 26 in all, one for each letter of the alphabet. Colorful two-page spreads with kid-friendly illustrations present each term. First the term is described: “Belief is when you are confident something exists even if you can’t see it. Lots of different beliefs fill the world, and no single belief is right for everyone.” On the facing page it concludes: “B is for BELIEF / Everyone has different beliefs.” It is hard to see who the intended audience for this little board book is. Babies and toddlers are busy learning the names for their body parts, familiar objects around them, and perhaps some basic feelings like happy, hungry, and sad; slightly older preschoolers will probably be bewildered by explanations such as: “A value is an expression of how to live a belief. A value can serve as a guide for how you behave around other human beings. / V is for VALUE / Live your beliefs out loud.”
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children. (Board book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-78603-742-8
Page Count: 52
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
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