A message of empathy and inclusion delivered with appealing simplicity and charming visual appeal.
A little girl learns what it really means to be a princess in Zhang’s picture book.
More than anything, little Sophie wants to be a princess; if only she had one of those fancy princess dresses sold at a neighborhood shop. Her hardworking, sympathetic mom, who makes dumplings for her “Mama Zhao’s Jiaozi” food truck, says that paying “for the roof over [their] heads” has to be the priority. It doesn’t help that Sophie’s classmates, Francesca and Mei, come to school wearing their beautiful new princess dresses and make fun of Sophie’s lunchtime dumplings and her friend Olek’s pierogies, comparing them to Francesca’s Italian restaurant raviolis and Mei’s decorative baos. Zhang’s vibrant and warmhearted debut children’s picture book marks the launch of her Are YOU series celebrating “diversity through our shared humanity” (the exuberant, full-color illustrations by Tran depict characters of different racial and ethnic groups). Sophie’s princess dream is realized against a backdrop of simple multicultural references: She realizes that she and her classmates are “all eating the same thing: dough wrapped around a filling”; on “Melting Pot Street,” she sets up a boba stand between her mother’s jiaozi truck and fruit vendor Abuelita Lola’s cart to earn money to buy her own princess dress. But it’s something Sophie does out of the kindness of her heart, Abuelita Lola tells her, that makes her “a true princess.”
A message of empathy and inclusion delivered with appealing simplicity and charming visual appeal.Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781967308002
Page Count: 38
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Nothing new here but a nonetheless congenial matriculant in publishing’s autumnal rite of back-to-school offerings.
The Crayons head back to class in this latest series entry.
Daywalt’s expository text lays out the basics as various Crayons wave goodbye to the beach, choose a first-day outfit, greet old friends, and make new ones. As in previous outings, the perennially droll illustrations and hand-lettered Crayon-speak drive the humor. The ever wrapperless Peach, opining, “What am I going to wear?” surveys three options: top hat and tails, a chef’s toque and apron, and a Santa suit. New friends Chunky Toddler Crayon (who’s missing a bite-sized bit of their blue point) and Husky Toddler Crayon speculate excitedly on their common last name: “I wonder if we’re related!” White Crayon, all but disappearing against the page’s copious white space, sits cross-legged reading a copy of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man. And Yellow and Orange, notable for their previous existential argument about the color of the sun, find agreement in science class: Jupiter, clearly, is yellow AND orange. Everybody’s excited about art class—“Even if they make a mess. Actually…ESPECIALLY if they make a mess!” Here, a spread of crayoned doodles of butterflies, hearts, and stars is followed by one with fulsome scribbles. Fans of previous outings will spot cameos from Glow in the Dark and yellow-caped Esteban (the Crayon formerly known as Pea Green). (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Nothing new here but a nonetheless congenial matriculant in publishing’s autumnal rite of back-to-school offerings. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: May 16, 2023
ISBN: 9780593621110
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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