Heavy on emotion but light on information.
Gentle, inviting pictures evoke empathy as they tell a story both happy and sad.
Jess, a brown-skinned kid, encounters an unhoused refugee outside a storefront. Though Jess’s light-skinned mother is comfortable first acknowledging, then talking with brown-skinned Grace, who wears a headscarf, Jess feels uneasy, thinking her “strange.” But Grace’s cat, Luna, helps spark a friendship. Jess and her mother prepare care packages for Grace and Luna, and, in turn, Grace shares her story: a journey through tyranny, hardship, and devastating loss, portrayed via evocative illustrations juxtaposed with joyful, loving memories. While Grace’s words, perhaps as understood by Jess, are light on details, illustrations tell a much deeper story of what Grace has experienced. Jess and her mother continue to visit, but when winter comes, Grace and Luna are no longer camped outside the storefront. Jess is concerned until a box of gifts appears, letting Jess and Mom know that Grace is safe. Grace’s story is nuanced, and readers will appreciate the depth of emotion conveyed by the illustrations. These provide an entry for conversation about the complexities of poverty, trauma, emigration, and inadequate support for unhoused people. The comforting ending, however, feels overly simplistic and misses an opportunity to further the conversation with more context about forced migration and support. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Heavy on emotion but light on information. (Picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9798765608326
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Andersen Press USA
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
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
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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