by Jessika von Innerebner ; illustrated by Jessika von Innerebner ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 8, 2020
Better than a bottle of glitter soda.
Unicorns Kevin and Eric decide not to be B(U)FFs.
In this worthy follow-up to the excellent It’s Not All Rainbows (2019), Kevin is excited when he finds out that a new unicorn is moving in next door. Kevin is a “magical friend-making machine,” and he just knows that this unicorn will be a perfect best friend. Kevin imagines all kinds of adventures with his new bestie, with a featureless cardboard-corn standing in for a real unicorn, and when Eric meets Kevin, he’s equally enthusiastic about immediately cementing their bond. But tension arises when Kevin finds out that Eric prefers clam juice to glitter soda and when Eric discovers that his new “BEST best friend” doesn’t like camping. After a few other attempts, the two unicorns realize that not everyone is destined to be best friends, so “instead of trying to force a friendship, Eric and Kevin decided just to be friendly.” As its predecessor did, this chipper story uses bright, goofy, cotton-candy–toned art with tons of kid appeal to get to a complex, important, and too-little-seen message. It’s slightly misleading to suggest that emotional connections need to rely on shared activities, but for children struggling to figure out how to appropriately navigate relationships—or kids who just want a fun story with raucous pictures—this will be a hit. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 19% of actual size.)
Better than a bottle of glitter soda. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-984814-80-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2020
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by Jessika von Innerebner ; illustrated by Jessika von Innerebner
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by Dev Petty ; illustrated by Lauren Eldridge ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 20, 2017
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
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by Dev Petty ; illustrated by Mike Boldt
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by Dev Petty ; illustrated by Mike Boldt
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by Dev Petty ; illustrated by Ana Aranda
by Alexandra Penfold ; illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 2, 2021
The story’s slight but allows kids to practice identifying and dealing with their own big feelings.
The diverse group of kids from All Are Welcome (2018) this time gathers in a vacant lot with tools in hand to clear the debris and make something new. But therein lies the rub: What should the something new be? While the exact nature of the disagreement is unfortunately not made clear to readers, the big feelings that the children exhibit are very clear (and for readers who need practice reading facial clues, there’s a labeled chart of 15 in the frontmatter). This book’s refrain is “How can I help? / What can we do?” And the answers, spread over several pages and not spelled out in so many words but rather shown in the illustrations, are: talk it through, compromise, and see things from another perspective. As a guide for dealing with feelings and problem-solving, the book is a bit slim and lacks a solid story to hook readers. But, as with its predecessor, its strength is again the diversity on display in its pages. There’s a rainbow of skin tones and hair colors as well as abundant variation in hair texture, several children exhibit visible disabilities, including one child who uses a wheelchair, and there are markers of religious and cultural diversity. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 29.6% of actual size.)
The story’s slight but allows kids to practice identifying and dealing with their own big feelings. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-525-57974-8
Page Count: 42
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
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by Alexandra Penfold ; illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman
BOOK REVIEW
by Alexandra Penfold ; illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman
BOOK REVIEW
by Alexandra Penfold ; illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman
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