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CARS, SIGNS, AND PORCUPINES!

Name: CARS, SIGNS, AND PORCUPINES!
Author: Ethan Long
ISBN: 978-1-250-76598-7

From the Happy County series

by Ethan Long ; illustrated by Ethan Long ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 2, 2021

There’s never a dull moment in Happy County, and that’s just the way kids like it.

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Porcupines on the run lead to some seriously prickly problems.

Beloved characters return in this, the third in Long’s Happy County series, after Hello, World! (2020) and Sun and Moon Together (2020). When the local water tower springs a leak, Pauly and Polly’s Porcupine Playground floods, causing the frolicking little porcupines to scatter. Now it’s up to the County Mounties to save the day by rounding them up amid much alliteration. Trouble is, they have no idea how to entice porcupines back into the fold. Nothing appears to lure them back (not even Parmesan pimento parfait) until Miss Beverly, the bookmobile librarian, arrives at a prickly pear solution. Supplementing this action are both silly scenes and informative sections (an introduction to “Types of Signs” covers regulatory, guide, and warning signs, for instance) that give the book a distinctly Richard Scarry–esque vibe. Long appears to be steering away from the information-rich text of Sun and Moon Together, however, preferring to unabashedly embrace the series’ silliness and sight gags. Even gags for adults sneak their way in, like the Buckstars coffee-chain ad featuring an antlered mascot and the You Knighted airplane that’s full of folks in armor. Colorful cartoon art guarantees that young eyeballs will stay enthused. (This book was reviewed digitally with 12-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 28.4% of actual size.)

There’s never a dull moment in Happy County, and that’s just the way kids like it. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 2, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-250-76598-7

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
FRAMED IN PARIS!
by Dan Yaccarino ; illustrated by Ethan Long

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE LOOSE IN LONDON!
by Dan Yaccarino ; illustrated by Ethan Long

- BOOK REVIEW
THE LETTER SETTERS IN FUN!
by Ethan Long ; illustrated by Ethan Long

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK LOST AND FOUND

From the Little Blue Truck series

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 18, 2026

Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed.

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Beep! Beep! Beep! Toad and Little Blue Truck get ready for a hayride.

After the titular vehicle is loaded with hay, Toad is nowhere to be found. “Beep! Beep! Beep! Where are you, Toad?” asks Little Blue Truck. All the barnyard animals look for him. Sheep searches the meadow. Goose and Duck check the pond. Others pitch in, too, but Toad seems to have disappeared…until Hen hears snoring coming from the pile of hay in the back of Little Blue Truck. Although the text’s scansion is imperfect in places (adults may want to pre-read to ensure a smooth read-aloud), the bouncy meter and rhyming text nevertheless capture the energy of the search and the farmyard community’s concern for Toad’s safety, making this a solid storytime choice. Eye-catching illustrations with rich, fully saturated colors balance the right level of detail while still highlighting the animal that is the focus of each verse. By introducing one farm animal at a time, Schertle also helps the youngest readers begin to identify barnyard animals by name and understand their unique farm homes. Traditional animal sounds are part of the text, and listeners will add them to their vocabulary. It all ends with the promised hayride, bringing the tale to a joyous ending.

Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2026

ISBN: 9780063436121

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: July 20, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK AND RACER RED
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)