bookshelf

THE DINO DOOR

Name: THE DINO DOOR
Author: Josh Funk
ISBN: 9781665957830

by Josh Funk ; illustrated by Renée Kurilla ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 5, 2026

Dinosaurs, rhymes, an obstinate child—what’s not to like?

bookshelf

A youngster finds an inspired way to put off bedtime.

A redheaded, light-skinned child in a green dinosaur costume is having a grand time in what looks like a playroom, tossing around a dino stuffie (“Dino soar”), impersonating a dino (“Dino ROAR”), and so on. Who can blame the kid for not wanting to drop everything to tackle a chore chart (“To do: brush teeth…”)? Chores are, after all, a “dino BORE!” The little one decides to draw a picture of a garden that includes an orange door—might it be a “dino door”? The kid walks through it (it’s that kind of story) and explores a sunny, flower-and-tree-filled land of dinos. Funk is resourceful when it comes to adhering to his self-imposed minimalist rhyme scheme; readers can expect a “dino s’more” before a concluding “dino snore,” which finds the all-tuckered-out kid fast asleep in bed back at home. The idea of a realm conjured by a child as an escape from conditions imposed by a killjoy offstage parent calls to mind Where the Wild Things Are, although Kurilla isn’t trying to be Maurice Sendak. Featuring the cushiony edges and eye-popping palette of a Barney & Friends episode, her cartoony digital art gives readers everything they need to know—a heavy lift in a book with minimal text.

Dinosaurs, rhymes, an obstinate child—what’s not to like? (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: May 5, 2026

ISBN: 9781665957830

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S DINOSAURS & PREHISTORIC CREATURES | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
A CELEBRATION OF YOU
by Josh Funk ; illustrated by Kip Alizadeh

- BOOK REVIEW
WHODONUT?
by Josh Funk ; illustrated by Brendan Kearney

- BOOK REVIEW
DEAR UNICORN
by Josh Funk ; illustrated by Charles Santoso

bookshelf

LITTLE BLUE TRUCK LOST AND FOUND

From the Little Blue Truck series

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 18, 2026

Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed.

bookshelf

Beep! Beep! Beep! Toad and Little Blue Truck get ready for a hayride.

After the titular vehicle is loaded with hay, Toad is nowhere to be found. “Beep! Beep! Beep! Where are you, Toad?” asks Little Blue Truck. All the barnyard animals look for him. Sheep searches the meadow. Goose and Duck check the pond. Others pitch in, too, but Toad seems to have disappeared…until Hen hears snoring coming from the pile of hay in the back of Little Blue Truck. Although the text’s scansion is imperfect in places (adults may want to pre-read to ensure a smooth read-aloud), the bouncy meter and rhyming text nevertheless capture the energy of the search and the farmyard community’s concern for Toad’s safety, making this a solid storytime choice. Eye-catching illustrations with rich, fully saturated colors balance the right level of detail while still highlighting the animal that is the focus of each verse. By introducing one farm animal at a time, Schertle also helps the youngest readers begin to identify barnyard animals by name and understand their unique farm homes. Traditional animal sounds are part of the text, and listeners will add them to their vocabulary. It all ends with the promised hayride, bringing the tale to a joyous ending.

Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2026

ISBN: 9780063436121

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: July 20, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK AND RACER RED
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

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)