A laugh-inducing look at a puffed-up personality.
A haughty sheep has a misconstrued view of his martial arts abilities.
With hooves flying in a sprightly jump and a toothy, proud smile on his face, a bipedal sheep shouts out his nickname: “They call me… // Baa Baa Black Belt!” With a deadpan look, another sheep on the farm retorts, “We never call him that.” The martial arts master shows off some of his incredible techniques, accompanied by his reluctant student, a pig named Pork Chop. Alas, when Baa Baa Black Belt attempts to break a piece of wood, he winds up injuring his hoof (immersed in Hamlet, Pork Chop scarcely looks up), and his “spinning BACK KICK” causes a pile-up of cows, each knocking the other over like a row of dominoes. Perhaps Baa Baa Black Belt’s skills aren’t quite up to par, but that doesn’t stop him from striking a winning pose and basking in imagined glory—even if the cows aren’t so amused. Filled with giggle-worthy asides from peripheral farm friends, silly happenstances that play directly against the protagonist’s ego, and goofy, exaggerated cartoon art, this Australian import will have storytime audiences rolling in the aisles (but hopefully not kicking and chopping).
A laugh-inducing look at a puffed-up personality. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781546138426
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
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
The runaway cookie in this Mexican bakery is a soft, brown, stubby-tailed piglet as impertinently bold and smug in his continual escape as his Gingerbread Boy cousin. “Chase me! Chase me down the street. But this is one piggy you won’t get to eat! / ¡Córrele, córrele! ¡Y Córrele más! ¡Soy el cochinito que jamás comerás!” This bouncy dual refrain extends the familiar cumulative text, rendered in both English and Spanish, as piggy manages to elude Marta the baker, Lorenzo the mechanic, Mamá Nita the beautician, Joaquín the telephone repairman and a host of other neighborhood adults—until he is outsmarted by Rosa, a little girl on her way to school, who foxily “helps him” cross the street. Safely tucked into her backpack, piggy is both a welcome surprise and an excuse for Rosa’s lateness to class. Deep opaque acrylic paintings of a colorful barrio and its residents in pursuit add the right amount of cultural flavor to this vivid Latino retelling. Recipe appended. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-55885-586-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Piñata Books/Arte Público
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2010
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