A well-intentioned story about body positivity and inner beauty that could benefit from the prescription to show, not tell.
Reggie Red, a young White girl, is so named because of her freckles and ruddy hair “with curls so big.”
Photo day is coming up in school, and Reggie wants to look like the girls she has seen in pictures online. She attempts to straighten her hair and make it lie flat. When that fails, she resorts to coloring her hair brown using chocolate sauce but merely makes a huge, sticky mess. She tries covering her freckles with her grandmother’s makeup and even tries on Grandma’s silver wig. Unsatisfied and dejected, she turns to her mother, who teaches her that many online photos are fake and dispenses wisdom: “Beauty is like / the roots of a tree. / The parts that matter / are the ones you can't see.” Comforted, Reggie goes to school on photo day feeling “radiant” and “light as a feather.” When she discovers that Tilly, the tallest girl in class, is self-conscious about her height, Reggie knows just what to say to her. Layton’s narrative offers a much-needed reminder that confidence looks different on everyone; however, the text is pedestrian, the rhymes are sometimes forced, and the constructions occasionally awkward. Timmis’ cartoony digital illustrations are serviceable but not much more. Body acceptance is framed as a purely female issue, which feels out of touch. The main cast is White. Contrary to the book’s message about body diversity, background characters are all slim and mostly White.
A well-intentioned story about body positivity and inner beauty that could benefit from the prescription to show, not tell. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4994-8961-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Windmill Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2022
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Good fun for all little ninjas and their parents.
After swinging out from the jungle after a long day of ninja-ing, Will makes his way home just in time for a bath. But as all ninjas know, danger lurks around every corner.
Even naughty ninjas get hungry, but Dad says, “Pee-yew,” and insists his little ninja get clean before going near a morsel. Ever the Naughty Ninja, Will follows his dad into the bathroom and immediately spies danger: Poisonous flies that have followed him from the jungle! As any parent would, his dad begs him not to say, “Ninja to the rescue,” because we all know what comes after a catchphrase…chaos! Through each increasingly rough rescue, Dad finds himself more and more defeated in his quest to complete bathtime, but ultimately he starts to find the infectious joy that only the ridiculousness of children can bring out in an adult. The art is bright and finds some nifty ninja perspectives that use the space well. It also places an interracial family at its center: Dad has brown skin and dark, puffy hair, and Mom is a white redhead; when out of his ninja cowl, Will looks like a slightly lighter-skinned version of his father. Kids will laugh at everything the dad is put through, and parents will knowingly nod, because we have all had nights with little ninjas soaking the bathroom floor. The book starts out a little text heavy but finds its groove quickly, reading smoothly going forward. Lots of action means it’s best not to save this one for bedtime.
Good fun for all little ninjas and their parents. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5420-9433-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Two Lions
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
