A friendly, useful, and nicely illustrated guide for kids facing surgery.
A little girl feels nervous about undergoing minor surgery in this debut picture book.
Sunday, a small, pale-skinned girl with unkempt brown hair, is about to have surgery to fix a small tear in her eardrum. She’s worried but has ticked all the boxes on her checklist— everything from a packed bag to a “stomach in knots like a triple-tied shoelace.” At the hospital, she encounters unfamiliar procedures like wearing a plastic identity bracelet and getting an IV, but the nurse’s encouraging words help her to be brave. She also calms herself down with pleasant daydreams. After the operation, she’s tired and groggy for a while but soon feels like herself again, and hears better too. In her book, Harrison soothes fears by helping kids know what to expect before surgery. The story nicely balances Sunday’s anxiety with her humorous voice and active imagination. She’s encouraged to be brave but in a way that acknowledges her understandable nerves; adults are kind and reassuring. Also useful are a list of five rules for surgery, such as bringing a toy or other item, and several questions adults can use to help children talk through their fears. Crampton provides cheerful, appealingly detailed images in calming pastels that feature a diverse cast.
A friendly, useful, and nicely illustrated guide for kids facing surgery. (Questions to Ask Someone (or Yourself!) Before Surgery” [26])Pub Date: March 27, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73470-750-2
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Warren Publishing, Inc.
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A flavorful call to action sure to spur young introverts.
In this latest slice in the Food Group series, Humble Pie learns to stand up to a busy friend who’s taking advantage of his pal’s hard work on the sidelines.
Jake the Cake and Humble Pie are good friends. Where Pie is content to toil in the background, Jake happily shines in the spotlight. Alert readers will notice that Pie’s always right there, too, getting A-pluses and skiing expertly just behind—while also doing the support work that keeps every school and social project humming. “Fact: Nobody notices pie when there’s cake nearby!” When the two friends pair up for a science project, things begin well. But when the overcommitted Jake makes excuse after excuse, showing up late or not at all, a panicked Pie realizes that they won’t finish in time. When Jake finally shows up on the night before the project’s due, Pie courageously confronts him. “And for once, I wasn’t going to sugarcoat it.” The friends talk it out and collaborate through the night for the project’s successful presentation in class the next day. John and Oswald’s winning recipe—plentiful puns and delightful visual jokes—has yielded another treat here. The narration does skew didactic as it wraps up: “There’s nothing wrong with having a tough conversation, asking for help, or making sure you’re being treated fairly.” But it’s all good fun, in service of some gentle lessons about social-emotional development.
A flavorful call to action sure to spur young introverts. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780063469730
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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