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
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
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
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