Despite the dead fish, this isn’t about grief; it’s about anxious, humane, funny attempts to protect loved ones from sadness.
How identifiable is an individual goldfish, anyway?
Jeffrey’s goldfish, Splotch, is fine when the dark-haired, pale-skinned boy bids it goodbye as he leaves for school, but by noon, it’s floating upside-down and has X’s for eyes. Dialogue and time notations offer readers a sparse, clever aid to decoding this mostly-visually-told plot. At noon, Mom (who shares Jeffrey’s coloring) exits the bathroom holding a dripping net while a curious black cat looks on. Heartbreak-avoidance techniques involve Frank’s Fish World (clued by telltale bags), benevolent deception, and the grand question of how important the exact shape of a fish’s white splotch is. At midnight, Jeffrey sits bolt upright, realizing that a certain new fish isn’t his old fish; the epiphany shows up on the page as Jeffrey’s eyes open wide in horror, his mental images of two fish (old and new) separated by a “not-equal” sign and three huge red exclamation marks. Can fish run away? Has old Splotch been changed by aliens? When exactly does Jeffrey realize what’s going on, and when does he decide to reverse emotional roles with his mother? Marino uses fine pencil lines, half-cartoony faces that blend wryness and sincerity, water-textured gouache on watercolor paper, and easygoing visual patterns to make illustrations that highlight the plot but are visually friendly.
Despite the dead fish, this isn’t about grief; it’s about anxious, humane, funny attempts to protect loved ones from sadness. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 2, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-451-46957-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
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BOOK REVIEW
A charming tale of an athlete who may not steal any bases but who will certainly steal readers’ hearts.
Ohtani, pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, teams up with Blank and Liem to tell the story of how his dog, Decoy, threw out a ceremonial first pitch.
It’s a big day! Decoy leaps “off the bed. Then back onto the bed. Then off the bed.” The enthusiastic pup heads outside to practice with his lucky baseball but is quickly distracted by squirrels (“we’ll play later!”), airplanes (“flyin’ high!”), and flowers (“smell ya soon!”). Dog and pitcher then head to the ballpark. In the locker room, Decoy high-paws Shohei’s teammates. It’s nearly time! But as Shohei prepares to warm up, Decoy realizes that he’s forgotten something important: his lucky ball. Without it, there will be “no championships, no parades, and no hot dogs!” Back home he goes, returning just in time. With Shohei at the plate, Decoy runs from the mound to his owner, rolling the ball into Shohei’s mitt for a “Striiiiike!” Related from a dog’s point of view, Ohtani and Blank’s energetic text lends the tale a sense of urgency and suspense. Liem’s illustrations capture the excitement of the first day of baseball season and the joys of locker room camaraderie, as well as Shohei and Decoy’s mutual affection—even when the ball is drenched in slobber, Shohei’s love for his pet shines through, and clearly, Decoy is focused when it matters.
A charming tale of an athlete who may not steal any bases but who will certainly steal readers’ hearts. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9780063460775
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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