A charming story to fall into in autumn or any season; it might even tempt kids to try acorn squash.
It’s good to be a gourd.
Besties Acorn Squash and Pumpkin love spending time in winter, spring, and summer. Come autumn, though, Pumpkin receives all the adulation. People clamor for pumpkin pie, pumpkin lattes, and pumpkin bisque. Other gourds go unnoticed; Acorn Squash feels left out. This year, our protagonist has “#SquashGoals.” Determined to become an “Autumn STAR,” Acorn Squash sets up a booth at the Harvest Festival and spotlights goodies like “Squilk” (acorn squash–flavored milk). Sadly, Acorn Squash garners zero attention, while Pumpkin’s relentless PR team guarantees that huge crowds will clamor for her. In a surprise twist, Pumpkin tracks down Acorn Squash. In need of respite from the madness, she just wants to spend time with her pal. The crowds won’t let Pumpkin go, though, so Acorn Squash suggests joining forces, giving the public “a double dose of autumn awesomeness!” Consequently, “SquashKin” becomes a hot new trend, and the gourds are now besties in every season. This lively fall story about friendship and collaboration will boost children’s feelings of empathy; Acorn Squash is especially appealing and relatable. At times, the text has an adult sensibility, though: References to soup subscriptions, the paparazzi, and a PR team pushing hair, makeup, and autograph-signing appointments will likely sail over kids’ heads. Still, the cheery, dynamic illustrations, bursting with bright autumnal colors and personable, googly-eyed characters, are delightful. Humans are diverse.
A charming story to fall into in autumn or any season; it might even tempt kids to try acorn squash. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9780593805909
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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