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
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories.
Kids know vegetables can be scary, but rarely are edible roots out to get someone. In this whimsical mock-horror tale, carrots nearly frighten the whiskers off Jasper Rabbit, an interloper at Crackenhopper Field.
Jasper loves carrots, especially those “free for the taking.” He pulls some in the morning, yanks out a few in the afternoon, and comes again at night to rip out more. Reynolds builds delicious suspense with succinct language that allows understatements to be fully exploited in Brown’s hilarious illustrations. The cartoon pictures, executed in pencil and then digitally colored, are in various shades of gray and serve as a perfectly gloomy backdrop for the vegetables’ eerie orange on each page. “Jasper couldn’t get enough carrots … / … until they started following him.” The plot intensifies as Jasper not only begins to hear the veggies nearby, but also begins to see them everywhere. Initially, young readers will wonder if this is all a product of Jasper’s imagination. Was it a few snarling carrots or just some bathing items peeking out from behind the shower curtain? The ending truly satisfies both readers and the book’s characters alike. And a lesson on greed goes down like honey instead of a forkful of spinach.
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0297-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
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