A well-crafted love letter to travel, culture, and self-discovery, perfect for third-culture kids and families alike.
A young girl travels the globe while learning to find her own voice in this picture book from Sarela.
Born in a village in the city of Amber, Joda lives out of a suitcase, moving from Portugal to Stockholm, and beyond. (The author describes her as “that bird who has never heard of a cage.”) Joda is searching for a sense of home and wonders if she can be truly happy without a permanent place to live. During her travels, she meets, among others, a turtle who tells her, “Yes it’s beautiful," when discussing his home, "but I see it every day, and I get bored.” The exchange helps Joda appreciate her own experiences. Still, the main exploration in the book goes beyond travels and focuses on Joda's relationship with herself. She navigates her anxieties through the Little Voices—illustrated almost like talking tiny stars or fortune cookies with legs—that guide her journey of processing these new experiences while recognizing that a sense of home can come from within. The visuals are nostalgic and rich in world-building, reminiscent of classic British children’s illustrations, with mementos of her travels displayed throughout to show a child's life lived across cultures. The dedication is in itself moving by framing the work as an ode to “families who live on the move” and offering a coming-of-age guide on how to feel at home even without one.
A well-crafted love letter to travel, culture, and self-discovery, perfect for third-culture kids and families alike.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2025
ISBN: 9786166293166
Page Count: 50
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Dec. 4, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Though Jim may have been grumpy because a chimp’s an ape and not a monkey, readers will enjoy and maybe learn from his...
It’s a wonderful day in the jungle, so why’s Jim Panzee so grumpy?
When Jim woke up, nothing was right: "The sun was too bright, the sky was too blue, and bananas were too sweet." Norman the gorilla asks Jim why he’s so grumpy, and Jim insists he’s not. They meet Marabou, to whom Norman confides that Jim’s grumpy. When Jim denies it again, Marabou points out that Jim’s shoulders are hunched; Jim stands up. When they meet Lemur, Lemur points out Jim’s bunchy eyebrows; Jim unbunches them. When he trips over Snake, Snake points out Jim’s frown…so Jim puts on a grimacelike smile. Everyone has suggestions to brighten his mood: dancing, singing, swinging, swimming…but Jim doesn’t feel like any of that. He gets so fed up, he yells at his animal friends and stomps off…then he feels sad about yelling. He and Norman (who regrets dancing with that porcupine) finally just have a sit and decide it’s a wonderful day to be grumpy—which, of course, makes them both feel a little better. Suzanne Lang’s encouragement to sit with your emotions (thus allowing them to pass) is nearly Buddhist in its take, and it will be great bibliotherapy for the crabby, cranky, and cross. Oscar-nominated animator Max Lang’s cartoony illustrations lighten the mood without making light of Jim’s mood; Jim has comically long arms, and his facial expressions are quite funny.
Though Jim may have been grumpy because a chimp’s an ape and not a monkey, readers will enjoy and maybe learn from his journey. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 15, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-553-53786-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 18, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2018
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
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)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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