A delightful take on nonconformity within a lovingly supportive, musical family.
Ava needs to pick an instrument in order to join in her family’s holiday concert, a priority for her family but not for her.
Her mother plays piano, her father the violin, and her two brothers the cello and clarinet. Dismayed by her parents’ suggestions of instruments she might like (piano, flute, violin), Ava chooses the tuba, certain that no one will want her to perform. Lessons with Rodney, the friendly high school marching band tuba player, get her hooked on the shiny brass instrument. She almost gives up when the loud sounds coming from her difficult-to-play tuba yield negative reactions from her brother, classmates—even the neighbor’s dog. But Rodney encourages her to stick with it, and she happily plays in a special tuba-only holiday concert. Ava, light-skinned and freckled, belongs to an interracial family. Her red hair matches her white mother’s. Her brothers’ skin tones are closer to their brown-skinned, ponytailed father’s. The wonderfully diverse cast of characters, from Rodney, an African-American with locs, to Ava’s schoolmates and the musicians who make up the tuba band, demonstrates the book’s embrace of ensemble participation. Watercolors cheerily splash across the nicely designed pages. A variety of typefaces and perspectives lends a lively, rhythmic feel to the book. A description of real-life “tuba Christmas” concerts follows the story.
A delightful take on nonconformity within a lovingly supportive, musical family. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-58536-384-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed.
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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