A vibrant tale about shining with confidence.
Kronenberg presents an uplifting picture book about love and self-worth.
The story is narrated by CATCH-M, a starlike spark born in darkness, and follows a fantastical path from fear and loneliness to awakening and connection. Children are invited to tune into their inner “braveheart,” face their feelings, and trust in their potential. Along the way, CATCH-M meets animals, such as Baby Cheetah and Zebra, who also struggle with difficult thoughts and uncertainty. CATCH-M offers simple visualizations, encouraging phrases, and easy-to-understand concepts from science and nature—such as how stars are formed and how the Earth’s magnetic pull works—to help young readers see that in dark times, love, imagination, and connection can light the way. Tejido’s illustrations employ bold colors and outer-space imagery, the book gently shares lyrical language and repeated affirmations (“I am extraordinary!”; “I love me”; “I can”) that give the book a reflective rhythm, encouraging readers to internalize its message. A mix of narrative, interactive callouts, and “fun, simple science” facts will also engage young minds. At times, the message becomes somewhat abstract and may be difficult for very young children to grasp, but older picture-book readers may find reassurance in its optimism. An author’s note, tying the message to her own childhood struggles and desire to help others “fill [their] heart[s],” adds authenticity.
A vibrant tale about shining with confidence.Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9798886453416
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group Press
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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