by Jen Campbell ; illustrated by Katie Harnett ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 17, 2019
Another addition to the crowded shelf of books celebrating books.
Franklin, a large green dragon, and his friend Luna, a human girl, are about to celebrate the book-loving creature’s 606th birthday.
There’s a special party being planned, but Luna doesn’t want Franklin to know about it. She takes him to a mysterious bookshop, where their adventure starts when Luna’s pet tortoise is trapped in a locked book. In one of the most exciting of the full-bleed, double-page spreads, a swirl of many colors and mysterious symbols, Franklin and Luna follow into the magical world of fairy tales. There, they encounter the usual characters, with some updates. They meet three little pigs building a hotel, “a yawning princess with a bag of frozen peas,” and a host of other characters, including an Asian-appearing knight, a turbaned, bearded maker of glass slippers, a brown-skinned witch, and others. These characters are introduced but do not advance the action. Franklin and Luna (who presents white) finally come up against the big, bad wolf, now a vegetarian yogi, who points out the lost tortoise—who’s winning a race. The trio and all their new fairy-tale friends return to the village for Franklin’s surprise birthday picnic. It’s sweet, but other than diversity in the cast of secondary characters, this third outing for the pair, while echoing a positive message about “friends and books,” doesn’t really present anything new in the world of story.
Another addition to the crowded shelf of books celebrating books. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-500-65175-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
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by Jen Campbell ; illustrated by Adam de Souza
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by Rebecca Elliott ; illustrated by Rebecca Elliott ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 26, 2019
A surprisingly nuanced lesson set in confidence-building, easy-to-decode text.
A unicorn learns a friendship lesson in this chapter-book series opener.
Unicorn Bo has friends but longs for a “bestie.” Luckily, a new unicorn pops into existence (literally: Unicorns appear on especially starry nights) and joins Bo at the Sparklegrove School for Unicorns, where they study things like unicorn magic. Each unicorn has a special power; Bo’s is granting wishes. Not knowing what his own might be distresses new unicorn Sunny. When the week’s assignment is to earn a patch by using their unicorn powers to help someone, Bo hopes Sunny will wish to know Bo's power (enabling both unicorns to complete the task, and besides, Bo enjoys Sunny’s company and wants to help him). But when the words come out wrong, Sunny thinks Bo was feigning friendship to get to grant a wish and earn a patch, setting up a fairly sophisticated conflict. Bo makes things up to Sunny, and then—with the unicorns friends again and no longer trying to force their powers—arising circumstances enable them to earn their patches. The cheerful illustrations feature a sherbet palette, using patterns for texture; on busy pages with background colors similar to the characters’ color schemes, this combines with the absence of outlines to make discerning some individual characters a challenge. The format, familiar to readers of Elliott’s Owl Diaries series, uses large print and speech bubbles to keep pages to a manageable amount of text.
A surprisingly nuanced lesson set in confidence-building, easy-to-decode text. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-32332-0
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
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by Rebecca Elliott ; illustrated by Rebecca Elliott
by Jessie Sima ; illustrated by Jessie Sima ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 2, 2023
Weathers heavy themes with breezy sensitivity…and unicorns!
Emotional storm clouds come between two unicorn friends.
Harking back to Not Quite Narwhal (2017) in both cast and tone, Sima offers a friendship tale in which Kelp’s close and aptly named pal Nimbus acquires a dark little cloud that rains when she feels down. The more she tries to ignore it or bottle it up, the bigger it gets…until it finally breaks out in a storm that sends her fleeing all company to huddle alone in a gloomy forest. There, she discovers that recognizing and getting to know the cloud actually makes it shrink—and just as she’s feeling a bit better, Kelp gallops into view, which sets the stage for a joyful reunion depicted in the sweet, softly hued illustrations with an exuberant rainbow swirl. Kelp, who turns out to be “a very good listener,” acknowledges the cloud matter-of-factly, and Nimbus comes to understand that though she may have up days and down days to come, weathering the latter with an accepting friend will make them easier. If some young readers subject to or familiar with similar storms (or a bit foggy on what a metaphor is) need explanation or discussion about depression to clear the air, the comforting message nonetheless shines brightly. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Weathers heavy themes with breezy sensitivity…and unicorns! (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781665916981
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
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