A mostly nifty vehicle to teach little ones about personal space, respect, consent, and bodily autonomy.
A lesson in consent delivered under the sea.
Kai is an affectionate merboy with light brown skin on his torso and an orange-scaled fish tale. He lives under the sea with his mermaid mama, who shares his skin color but has a silvery tail and flowing, white tresses instead of his blue-black hair. She warmly welcomes her son’s “squishes,” the text’s word for hugs, which seems ideally suited to the aquatic setting. In fact, lots of sea creatures enjoy Kai’s squishes, including an octopus, a lobster, and a dolphin. But when Kai swims up behind a puffer fish and gives it a squish, the startled fish puffs up alarmingly. Kai feels terrible about this turn of events, and his friends help him figure out how to make amends and do better next time. Ensuing pages show Kai and his friends asking for and then giving fin bumps, tail claps, and tentacle shakes. Humor, especially when the crab asks, “Does anybody want a claw pinch?” helps the intentionally instructive text avoid preachiness. Likewise, the tropical palette and rounded cartoon-style characters create a playful sensibility from one page to the next. Unfortunately, the story does not explicitly validate the right to refuse any contact at all.
A mostly nifty vehicle to teach little ones about personal space, respect, consent, and bodily autonomy. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 9, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-1477-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A muddled message shoots for the moon but never quite gets all the way off the ground.
A little mouse experiences BIG changes thanks to a spectacular talent.
Dee’s a singer to her core. She croons absolutely everywhere, so when her teacher Miss Pink suggests that her students bring in something that symbolizes what they enjoy doing, Dee brings in a song. As she sings it, however, her joy causes her to physically grow huge! At first this makes her feel special, but as the day goes on she feels lonely and out of place. Shrinking back to her normal size, she worries that this means she can never sing again. But thanks to the encouragement of her mother and little sister, she realizes that being special is nothing to be ashamed of. However, though her classmates have skills of their own, only Dee changes, indicating that some talents are more transformative than others. After all, while everyone is enthralled by Dee, Ren the turtle’s talent for drawing a replica of a space station is something he “made everyone watch.” The true standout in this show comes from Sinquett’s dynamic art, capable of encompassing the emotional highs and lows of elementary school kids. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A muddled message shoots for the moon but never quite gets all the way off the ground. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-368-07806-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 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.
