An inspiring ode to books and the heroes who make them available to those in need.
A voracious young reader meets a bike rider giving away books—and becomes inspired by his good work.
Lía reads all day, every day: “sitting down, upside down, and before bed almost every single night.” Though summer offers ample time to read, sadly, Lía’s access to books is limited; school is closed, and she lives far from the library. But at a nearby park, she meets Gabriel, a cyclist who rides around making books available to the public. With Gabriel busy visiting other parks, Lía decides to outfit her own bike with baskets filled with books. She recruits other kids, and before long, their idea has spread—across the neighborhood and then to cities all over the world. A plucky hero in the mold of climate activists Xiye Bastida and Greta Thunberg—both referenced in the text—Lía works hard to create the change she wishes to see in the world. Campoy and Howell’s child-friendly testament to the power of collective action concludes with backmatter explaining the real-life inspiration for the tale. Magro’s eclectic art conjures up a setting certain to enchant bibliophiles; various elements, from the roofs of houses to a red tent in which Lía holes up reading, resemble oversize books, while scribbly linework and the use of collage set a whimsical tone. Lía and Gabriel are brown-skinned; Lía’s community is diverse. Publishes simultaneously in Spanish.
An inspiring ode to books and the heroes who make them available to those in need. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9780063285125
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
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)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
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