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ISLA AND THE SKY

Name: ISLA AND THE SKY
Author: Greg Stobbs
ISBN: 9781623715328

by Greg Stobbs ; illustrated by Greg Stobbs ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 6, 2026

A heartfelt exploration of the importance of truly expressing one’s emotions, with a meteorological angle.

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A young girl loves to paint the sky, but the sky doesn’t feel worthy of her art.

Isla looks upward; she adores the sky, whether it’s stormy, sunny, or moody and flat. She swishes her paintbrush across the paper, capturing each shimmering color. The sky, a towering girl whose flowing locks stretch across the town, is feeling particularly rainy one day. Her hair is awash with deep purples, blues, and grays. Hearing the grumbles of the people below—“Such a dreary sky,” “Awful weather”—Sky feels self-conscious. People don’t like her unless she’s bright and happy. So she decides to beam every day, regardless of how she is feeling. The days are filled with brilliant blues and yellows; every night is clear, with silvery stars on deep black swirls. But without the rain, the vegetation begins to falter. Isla’s paintings just might be what is needed to convince both Sky and the townspeople that varied weather is essential—and beautiful. Stobbs’ jewel-toned palette and textured swirls of paint enhance the joyful text. Isla and Sky are pale-skinned; the village residents are diverse.

A heartfelt exploration of the importance of truly expressing one’s emotions, with a meteorological angle. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2026

ISBN: 9781623715328

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Crocodile/Interlink

Review Posted Online: June 1, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
GOD IS HERE
by Lisa Tawn Bergren ; illustrated by Greg Stobbs

- BOOK REVIEW
DON'T ASK THE DRAGON
by Lemn Sissay ; illustrated by Greg Stobbs

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK LOST AND FOUND

From the Little Blue Truck series

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 18, 2026

Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed.

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Beep! Beep! Beep! Toad and Little Blue Truck get ready for a hayride.

After the titular vehicle is loaded with hay, Toad is nowhere to be found. “Beep! Beep! Beep! Where are you, Toad?” asks Little Blue Truck. All the barnyard animals look for him. Sheep searches the meadow. Goose and Duck check the pond. Others pitch in, too, but Toad seems to have disappeared…until Hen hears snoring coming from the pile of hay in the back of Little Blue Truck. Although the text’s scansion is imperfect in places (adults may want to pre-read to ensure a smooth read-aloud), the bouncy meter and rhyming text nevertheless capture the energy of the search and the farmyard community’s concern for Toad’s safety, making this a solid storytime choice. Eye-catching illustrations with rich, fully saturated colors balance the right level of detail while still highlighting the animal that is the focus of each verse. By introducing one farm animal at a time, Schertle also helps the youngest readers begin to identify barnyard animals by name and understand their unique farm homes. Traditional animal sounds are part of the text, and listeners will add them to their vocabulary. It all ends with the promised hayride, bringing the tale to a joyous ending.

Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2026

ISBN: 9780063436121

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: July 20, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK AND RACER RED
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)