bookshelf

HENRY UPSIDE DOWN

Name: HENRY UPSIDE DOWN
Author: Jenn Bailey
ISBN: 9781797235998

BOOK 4

From the Henry series , Vol. 4

by Jenn Bailey ; illustrated by Mika Song ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 7, 2026

Like a balm for anxious minds.

bookshelf

The students of Classroom Ten prepare for Garden Time—and wonder who will be named class gardener this week.

When Ms. Tanaka picks Henry, he feels “like warm honey.” The garden is a calming place where he’s always felt welcome. Since running the garden is a big job, Henry chooses BFF Katie to be his assistant. But when Ivy, Katie’s pal from tumbling class, joins them, she turns Henry’s quiet, well-ordered world upside down—doing handstands with Katie, keeping up easy banter, and “being a best friend to Henry’s best friend.” Though Henry diligently checks the list of gardening assignments Ms. Tanaka gave him, there’s nothing there about dealing with an interloper. But when the gardeners address a task they’ve been avoiding all week—readying the icky worm farm for the next gardener—Henry slowly goes from feeling left out to learning to appreciate Ivy. Focusing on the oft-unanticipated nuances of friendship, this is another sweetly sincere addition to a series centered on a youngster apparently on the autism spectrum. Ideal for burgeoning readers, Bailey’s prose is elegant in its simplicity, conveying gentle yet potent truths. Once more, she crafts a quiet tale that will speak to young worriers; Henry’s unnerved by change yet empowered to confront upheaval in his own way. Homing in on subtle moments of frustration, Song’s black-and-white, watercolor-and-ink illustrations continue to delight, this time with spots of yellow. Henry, Ms. Tanaka, and Ivy present East Asian; Katie’s brown-skinned.

Like a balm for anxious minds. (Early chapter book. 4-8)

Pub Date: April 7, 2026

ISBN: 9781797235998

Page Count: 52

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NOT SO QUIET LIFE OF MARCEL MARCEAU
by Jenn Bailey & Sherry Bushue ; illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski

- BOOK REVIEW
HENRY'S PICTURE-PERFECT DAY
by Jenn Bailey ; illustrated by Mika Song

- BOOK REVIEW
HENRY AND THE SOMETHING NEW
by Jenn Bailey ; illustrated by Mika Song

bookshelf

ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

bookshelf

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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
A PERFECT PLACE TO PLAY
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Jim Valeri

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

bookshelf

IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

bookshelf

A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.

Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)