A sweet and sunny slice-of-life story about childhood contentment.
In O’Bannon’s illustrated children’s book, a young girl prepares her horse to compete at an equestrian championship.
Rae, a young Black girl, wakes up excited at the prospect of entering her first ever equestrian competition: the Berkshire Equestrian Championship. She and her dad select the horse she’ll ride: Jelly Bean, a genial bay with white blaze. Rae takes Jelly Bean for a gallop around the farm, reads to him, feeds him an apple, then encourages him into the transport trailer, grooms his coat, and rides him cleanly through the course over multiple days, winning first prize. O’Bannon tells Rae’s story in straightforward, non-rhyming text, presented in a large, easy-to-read typeface against blank pastel backdrops (with a recurring horseshoe headpiece); the text alternates with Faiz’s full-page pencil illustrations. The images combine a scribbly coloring technique that’s suitably evocative of primary school drawings with nuanced artistic flourishes, such as the inclusion of soft-toy horses shown on the floor of Rae’s bedroom or the impressionistic trees and hay on later pages. Over the course of the book, Rae is effectively presented as a loving, cheerful protagonist who enjoys Dad’s company and treats Jelly Bean as a friend, as well as a steed: “Rae gently encourages him to walk into the trailer, showing him that everything is safe.” The youngster’s appreciation of ordinary, everyday moments is endearing, and, with this in mind, it might have been an interesting plot turn for her not to have won the competition. Still, young readers are sure to find much to enjoy in these pages.
A sweet and sunny slice-of-life story about childhood contentment.Pub Date: April 14, 2023
ISBN: 9781737412816
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Pound Cake Publishing LLC
Review Posted Online: Aug. 21, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with...
Reynolds and Brown have crafted a Halloween tale that balances a really spooky premise with the hilarity that accompanies any mention of underwear.
Jasper Rabbit needs new underwear. Plain White satisfies him until he spies them: “Creepy underwear! So creepy! So comfy! They were glorious.” The underwear of his dreams is a pair of radioactive-green briefs with a Frankenstein face on the front, the green color standing out all the more due to Brown’s choice to do the entire book in grayscale save for the underwear’s glowing green…and glow they do, as Jasper soon discovers. Despite his “I’m a big rabbit” assertion, that glow creeps him out, so he stuffs them in the hamper and dons Plain White. In the morning, though, he’s wearing green! He goes to increasing lengths to get rid of the glowing menace, but they don’t stay gone. It’s only when Jasper finally admits to himself that maybe he’s not such a big rabbit after all that he thinks of a clever solution to his fear of the dark. Brown’s illustrations keep the backgrounds and details simple so readers focus on Jasper’s every emotion, writ large on his expressive face. And careful observers will note that the underwear’s expression also changes, adding a bit more creep to the tale.
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with Dr. Seuss’ tale of animate, empty pants. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0298-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
© 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.
