A thoughtful story for young readers that deeply explores adoption narratives.
A young water buffalo struggles with the fact that he was adopted in Dunn’s illustrated children’s book.
Wade is feeling rather glum, because his birthday is coming up and he’s wondering what he always does around this time of year: “Why was I given away?” He reflects on how he was adopted by some American buffaloes from an orphanage in India. Wade loves his family, but it bothers him that he looks different than them, with his black fur and longer horns. At school, he’s often asked about his “real” family, and grown-ups keep saying he’s “lucky,” which confuses him. In his room, Wade cries himself to sleep and dreams that his bed is floating on an unfamiliar river. A much older water buffalo appears by his side and tells him a story about another water buffalo who lost her parents at a young age. As an adult, she worked hard, fell in love with another water buffalo, and got pregnant; he left her, and she was all alone. She places her baby outside an orphanage in the hope that he will have a better life than what she could give him. The baby, of course, is Wade; the storyteller then introduces himself as Wade’s great-great-grandpa and tells him that he wasn’t adopted because his birth mother didn’t love him, but because she did, with all her heart. Dunn’s book offers an important story about adoption. Some young readers are more likely to connect and empathize with human characters, but Aronovà’s artwork anthropomorphizes Wade and those around him. The story is tender and skillfully written, providing nuance to a complicated situation that’s unique to adoptive families. Helpful tips in the back of the book offer advice on how to approach adoption-related topics with children. Aronovà’s full-color cartoon illustrations are carefully rendered, mixing the whimsical aspects of the story with realistic, engaging images that often span two-page spreads.
A thoughtful story for young readers that deeply explores adoption narratives.Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781960111197
Page Count: 38
Publisher: Rodney K Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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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