A simple message of environmental protection, skillfully conveyed.
Nature responds dramatically to the destruction wrought by humanity.
While sitting in a car headed to a home in the woods, a pale-skinned, dark-haired child gazes upon an industrial landscape. The youngster’s view of chugging factories, overflowing dumpsters, landfills, and wastewater captures humanity’s sphere of influence. Arriving home, the child reflects and ponders a solution. By the light of the moon, our protagonist watches a wolf howl for its kin. The sound brings what appears to be simply a cloud formation, then stars, then the eyes of a whirlwind of wolves. This magical swarm forms one immense wolf, who bends to acknowledge the watching child. Though it’s a dreamy experience, when morning comes, the world begins to change. Giant animals appear everywhere: An ant flies beside an airplane, an iguana halts deforestation, and a polar bear dwarfs an ocean oil rig. While some humans look on in confusion, a group of children, led by the strong-minded protagonist, form the outline of a massive person to stand beside the beasts. This wordless, intense narrative celebrates nature’s grandeur, ubiquity, and worth by having animals literally loom large. In good company with Shaun Tan’s and Guojing’s visually rich, affectingly allegorical work, this is a resonant reminder to resist ecological encroachment and stand up for nature.
A simple message of environmental protection, skillfully conveyed. (Picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: Feb. 17, 2026
ISBN: 9780063357990
Page Count: 88
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience.
The How to Catch A… crew try for Comet.
Having already failed to nab a Halloween witch, the Easter Bunny, a turkey, a leprechaun, the Tooth Fairy, and over a dozen other iconic trophies in previous episodes of this bestselling series, one would think the racially diverse gaggle of children in Elkerton’s moonlit, wintry scenes would be flagging…but no, here they lay out snares ranging from a loop of garland to an igloo baited with reindeer moss to an enticing candy cane maze, all in hopes of snagging one of Santa’s reindeer while he’s busy delivering presents. Infused with pop culture–based Christmas cheer (“Now I’ve already seen the shelf with the elf”), Comet prances past the traps until it’s time to gather up the kids, most of whom look terrified, for a group snapshot with the other reindeer and then climb back into harness: “This was a great stop but a few million to go / Christmas Eve must continue with style!” Though festive, the verse feels trite and unlikely to entice youngsters. A sprinkling of “True Facts About Reindeer” (“They live in the tundra, where they have friends like the arctic bunny”) wrap up this celebration of the predatory spirit. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 9781728276137
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound.
The titular cookie runs off the page at a bookstore storytime, pursued by young listeners and literary characters.
Following on 13 previous How To Catch… escapades, Wallace supplies sometimes-tortured doggerel and Elkerton, a set of helter-skelter cartoon scenes. Here the insouciant narrator scampers through aisles, avoiding a series of elaborate snares set by the racially diverse young storytime audience with help from some classic figures: “Alice and her mad-hat friends, / as a gift for my unbirthday, / helped guide me through the walls of shelves— / now I’m bound to find my way.” The literary helpers don’t look like their conventional or Disney counterparts in the illustrations, but all are clearly identified by at least a broad hint or visual cue, like the unnamed “wizard” who swoops in on a broom to knock over a tower labeled “Frogwarts.” Along with playing a bit fast and loose with details (“Perhaps the boy with the magic beans / saved me with his cow…”) the author discards his original’s lip-smacking climax to have the errant snack circling back at last to his book for a comfier sort of happily-ever-after.
A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-0935-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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