A good idea drowns in unnecessary excess.
Great intentions yield few rewards in this well-meaning, plodding explanation of breast cancer for kids.
A king and a queen call their sons in for a consultation. The queen reports that there is a rebellion underway, but it’s not in the kingdom. The rebellion is of breast-cancer cells, and the battlefield her body. Using martial terminology, the queen is able to answer her sons’ questions and calm their fears, walking them through the entire process of this “war.” Unlike similar books for a younger crowd, this title eschews avoiding frightening topics and uses an unusual approach to make the discussion about fighting cancer both straightforward and appealing. Sadly, troubles abound. Martín loads the book down with excess text, overloading readers from the start. The conceit—royal family, war terminology of many eras—lends itself to mixed metaphors. Most worrisome, at no point do the words “radiation” or “chemotherapy” appear. Instead faux treatments with names like “Scalpozap” and “Extermamide” muddy the issue. Silly, simplistic art adds little to the narrative, sometimes making things worse by displaying frighteningly huge syringes and pills.
A good idea drowns in unnecessary excess. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-84-15503-20-0
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Cuento de Luz
Review Posted Online: Feb. 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2013
A flavorful call to action sure to spur young introverts.
In this latest slice in the Food Group series, Humble Pie learns to stand up to a busy friend who’s taking advantage of his pal’s hard work on the sidelines.
Jake the Cake and Humble Pie are good friends. Where Pie is content to toil in the background, Jake happily shines in the spotlight. Alert readers will notice that Pie’s always right there, too, getting A-pluses and skiing expertly just behind—while also doing the support work that keeps every school and social project humming. “Fact: Nobody notices pie when there’s cake nearby!” When the two friends pair up for a science project, things begin well. But when the overcommitted Jake makes excuse after excuse, showing up late or not at all, a panicked Pie realizes that they won’t finish in time. When Jake finally shows up on the night before the project’s due, Pie courageously confronts him. “And for once, I wasn’t going to sugarcoat it.” The friends talk it out and collaborate through the night for the project’s successful presentation in class the next day. John and Oswald’s winning recipe—plentiful puns and delightful visual jokes—has yielded another treat here. The narration does skew didactic as it wraps up: “There’s nothing wrong with having a tough conversation, asking for help, or making sure you’re being treated fairly.” But it’s all good fun, in service of some gentle lessons about social-emotional development.
A flavorful call to action sure to spur young introverts. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780063469730
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Good clean fun for fans of this long-running franchise.
The Crayon crew, having happily starred in more than two dozen books, now cleans up.
As the Crayons grab inner tubes and rubber duckies and prepare for bathtime, Daywalt keeps the laughs coming. Adult readers will be tickled by the many grown-up references: Prince’s “Purple Rain” and Gene Kelly’s “Singin’ in the Rain,” Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus. But there’s plenty for younger readers: Esteban (“Pea Green” is crossed out and corrected on his label) wears a cape and snorkel as he perches on a bathtub faucet (later, he’ll sport the cape while playing pirate with Neon Red); a big Green shields the eyes of a small Green who is excitedly pointing to the spectacle of a naked (i.e., label-less) pale tan crayon; alongside Mermaid Purple, Starfish Orange, and Sea Turtle Green, a chunky My First Crayon offers an uplifting bit of wisdom about kindness. Some Crayons see bathtime as an opportunity to party, while others prefer to shower, but “they all have a splash”—interestingly, while wearing their labels. Jeffers again contributes his reliably droll crayon sketches, minimalist but with pleasing extras like a purple octopus popping up among the bathers.
Good clean fun for fans of this long-running franchise. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9780593694879
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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