Readers won’t miss the gracefully delivered message: Generosity and friendship triumph over greedy self-absorption.
In this allegory about interconnectedness, a girl with a literal taste for stars inadvertently robs others of their light.
On a clear winter night, ginger-haired Molly reaches up to pluck a star from the sky—and finds it delicious. She crunches and gobbles until she feels “warm and bright, inside and out.” Commencing her evening walk, she encounters friends, who proffer a lantern, warming tea, and an invitation to a gathering. Molly rejects each offer; her captured stars provide all the light, warmth, and comfort she needs. She climbs to her favorite high point, where she realizes how her selfishness has deprived the now “dark and gloomy world” of its exquisite starlight. Hesselberth depicts Molly’s dress as a kind of cage: While the stars she’s consumed glow visibly, their luminosity doesn’t extend beyond her. Remorsefully, she uses a key to unlock her garment, returning the stars to the sky. Feeling empty, she retraces her route home but sees her four friends, sharing a telescope, a picnic—and community. Gratefully, she joins them as Hesselberth gently conveys a strong yet never heavy-handed warning against selfishness. The nocturnal palette of wintry purples and deep blues is accented with complementary tints of pale orange and yellow. Molly is light-skinned, and her friends’ faces are pastel blue, mauve, and butter-yellow, suggesting a hyperstylized diversity. Simple six-pointed stars glint across galaxies of gestural color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Readers won’t miss the gracefully delivered message: Generosity and friendship triumph over greedy self-absorption. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-79720-940-1
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
Sure to have little ones giggling.
Jacques is a hedgehog with a big secret: “I wear real, bona fide underwear.”
Our narrator received a mysterious package one day; an illustration shows a pair of underwear tied to a balloon with a note “from the Universe” floating down into Jacques’ burrow. Hedgehogs don’t wear underwear, however. Will Jacques be shunned? Jacques worries but comes to a decision: “I have to wear them. When I do I feel special.” Determined, Jacques, who’s been invited to a party, makes a dramatic entrance, with undies in hand. Jacques’ declaration (“I WEAR UNDERWEAR”) is met with remarks of dismay, before another hedgehog opens up about similar fears and shows off a pair of cowboy boots. More hedgehogs introduce themselves with their own confessions. The story ends with Jacques unveiling a painting of the underwear in a gallery filled with hedgehogs wearing all sorts of attire. Though the book is simple in plot, characters, and setting, it wins in its balance of bathroom humor, dramatic storytelling, and celebrations of individual expression. French words are peppered throughout, adding to the fun without detracting from the story for those unfamiliar with the language. The cartoonish illustrations brim with fun; Valdez relies heavily on geometric shapes (triangle noses for the hedgehogs; huge circles for their eyes). Details such as speech bubbles and recurring turtle and snake characters contribute to the outlandish humor.
Sure to have little ones giggling. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781250814388
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance.
A boy with wings learns to be himself and inspires others like him to soar, too.
Norman, a “perfectly normal” boy, never dreamed he might grow wings. Afraid of what his parents might say, he hides his new wings under a big, stuffy coat. Although the coat hides his wings from the world, Norman no longer finds joy in bathtime, playing at the park, swimming, or birthday parties. With the gentle encouragement of his parents, who see his sadness, Norman finds the courage to come out of hiding and soar. Percival (The Magic Looking Glass, 2017, etc.) depicts Norman with light skin and dark hair. Black-and-white illustrations show his father with dark skin and hair and his mother as white. The contrast of black-and-white illustrations with splashes of bright color complements the story’s theme. While Norman tries to be “normal,” the world and people around him look black and gray, but his coat stands out in yellow. Birds pop from the page in pink, green, and blue, emphasizing the joy and beauty of flying free. The final spread, full of bright color and multiracial children in flight, sets the mood for Norman’s realization on the last page that there is “no such thing as perfectly normal,” but he can be “perfectly Norman.”
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68119-785-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
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