The artwork deserves attention, but the therapeutic agenda overshadows the narrative pleasure.
In this Australian import, a stuffed hippo tries to cheer up a young boy through elaborate imaginative adventures before discovering what the little one really needs.
When young Billy tells Hippo he’s feeling sad, the well-meaning stuffed companion launches into a whirlwind of imaginative activities—dressing up in costumes, dancing among the cherry blossoms, embarking on pirate adventures, having flying carpet races, and planning a party. None of it works, and Billy at last reveals that he just wants a supportive friend to listen. Evans’ watercolor and colored pencil illustrations shine, particularly in the expansive double-page spreads. The pirate ship scene relies on diagonal composition and a massive curling wave to create drama and movement, while the flying carpet sequence employs aerial perspective over a bustling, colorful cityscape to convey breathtaking scope. Other scenes have an appealing retro charm reminiscent of early Olivia books. The text, however, isn’t quite as successful. Billy’s dialogue feels unnaturally adult (“It’s not what I need right now”), and the didactic message dominates the narrative rather than emerging organically. The book joins an increasingly crowded shelf of recent picture books explicitly teaching emotional processing and active listening—though Evans’ artistic skill elevates it above many peers, the heavy-handed lesson-giving may wear thin for readers seeking genuine storytelling. Billy has dark hair and skin the white of the page.
The artwork deserves attention, but the therapeutic agenda overshadows the narrative pleasure. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Feb. 10, 2026
ISBN: 9798217038732
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it.
What happens when a robot washes up alone on an island?
“Everything was just right on the island.” Brown beautifully re-creates the first days of Roz, the protagonist of his Wild Robot novels, as she adapts to living in the natural world. A storm-tossed ship, seen in the opening just before the title page, and a packing crate are the only other human-made objects to appear in this close-up look at the robot and her new home. Roz emerges from the crate, and her first thought as she sets off up a grassy hill—”This must be where I belong”—is sweetly glorious, a note of recognition rather than conquest. Roz learns to move, hide, and communicate like the creatures she meets. When she discovers an orphaned egg—and the gosling Brightbill, who eventually hatches—her decision to be his mother seems a natural extension of her adaptation. Once he flies south for the winter, her quiet wait across seasons for his return is a poignant portrayal of separation and change. Brown’s clean, precise lines and deep, light-filled colors offer a sense of what Roz might be seeing, suggesting a place that is alive yet deeply serene and radiant. Though the book stands alone, it adds an immensely appealing dimension to Roz’s world. Round thumbnails offer charming peeks into the island world, depicting Roz’s animal neighbors and Brightbill’s maturation.
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780316669467
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 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
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