by Jessika von Innerebner ; illustrated by Jessika von Innerebner ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 22, 2019
Slightly subversive and a lot of fun.
What could make a unicorn have a bad day?
“Everyone knows that unicorns are perfect,” starts this gleefully ill-tempered story. Cartoonish unicorns prance around a garishly bright landscape, skateboarding down rainbows and leaping over cupcakes. So when Kevin “[wakes] up on the floor,” he knows that he has no choice but to “KEEP IT HAPPY.” Motivational posters encourage him to “SPARKLE MORE,” he zooms down Cheerful Drive and Upbeat Avenue, and aggressive billboards warn residents to “ALWAYS BE A HAPPY-CORN!” But negative experiences—an empty gas tank in the middle of a rainstorm, a steaming cup of clam juice instead of glitter soda, and a pack of hungry dogs—pile up. Kevin tries to keep a smile on his face but it becomes an increasingly forced grin, then a rictus. He finally snaps, yelling: “This is a really horrible, lousy, awful day!” After the slight awkwardness that follows the breaking of a unicorn social contract, Kevin’s friends start to open up about their own trials and tribulations. Blending the timeless wisdom of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day with a slight parody of current trends, this picture book is an excellent antidote to the cult of positive thinking.
Slightly subversive and a lot of fun. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-9848-1430-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
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by Jessika von Innerebner ; illustrated by Jessika von Innerebner
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by Jessika von Innerebner ; illustrated by Jessika von Innerebner
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by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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by Hoda Kotb ; illustrated by Chloe Dominique ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2024
Pleasant enough but not particularly original.
Uplifting messages of positivity from the Today show anchor.
Hope springs eternal, so the saying goes. Kotb agrees, here delivering to children the cheery news that hope lives inside all of them and that whatever they might wish for can be theirs. All they need is a sunny outlook, and the possibilities for happy outcomes are virtually endless. Children’s dreams can be in-the-moment ones—like purple ice cream with whipped cream and a cherry—or more far-ranging ones, such as growing tall enough to reach that high shelf easily or for hair that’s long enough to braid. It doesn’t matter, the author reassures young readers. Your aspirations will be realized, so don’t give up on them—just keep believing in them and, most of all, in yourself. Throughout, Kotb calls hope a rainbow, a feeling, a gift, and a wish. Hope is “new friends you’ll find— / friends who are loving and funny and kind.” Hope is “practicing your heart out, letter by letter.” The book’s overarching theme is upbeat, but its bouncy rhyming text is clumsy. The child-appealing illustrations are colorful and lively, though they have a generic look. The cast of wide-eyed characters is racially diverse; some have visible disabilities.
Pleasant enough but not particularly original. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780593624128
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flamingo Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024
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by Hoda Kotb ; illustrated by Suzie Mason
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