OLLIE ON STAGE

Name: OLLIE ON STAGE
Author: Keith Brockett
ISBN: 978-1-58536-401-5

by Keith Brockett ; illustrated by Ashley King ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2019

A slapstick celebration of the process of discovering and honoring what makes us and our friends unique—in a decidedly...

bookshelf

Tall, round-bellied Ollie the ogre’s unsuccessful attempts to cultivate a talent lead him to doubt his ability to participate in the local talent show.

Rhyming text is accompanied by colorful, cartoonish illustrations that depict a world in which humans, animals, and folkloric creatures appear to live in harmony. The characters’ expressive faces anchor the uncertainty and dismay that Ollie’s friends experience as they try (and fail) to teach him their respective special skills. It soon appears evident that Ollie’s ogreish strength (pun intended) may in fact be his weakness, but an unexpected turn of events demonstrates how everyone in a community has something important to offer. The story itself treads a well-worn path, however, and the generic characters are never fully developed. Readers may be entertained by Ollie’s dismal training sessions and later success and fame, yet the origins or relevance of his fervent desire to be onstage at all remain frustratingly unanswered throughout the book. Ollie’s face and hands are furless while the rest of his body is covered in a turquoise pelt; while humans of various skin tones occupy this world, the humanoid characters, like Ollie, present white.

A slapstick celebration of the process of discovering and honoring what makes us and our friends unique—in a decidedly less-than-unique vehicle . (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 15, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-58536-401-5

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press

Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS | CHILDREN'S PARANORMAL & SUPERNATURAL

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER'S NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
by Keith Brockett ; illustrated by Joseph Cowman

bookshelf

LITTLE BLUE TRUCK LOST AND FOUND

From the Little Blue Truck series

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 18, 2026

Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed.

bookshelf

Beep! Beep! Beep! Toad and Little Blue Truck get ready for a hayride.

After the titular vehicle is loaded with hay, Toad is nowhere to be found. “Beep! Beep! Beep! Where are you, Toad?” asks Little Blue Truck. All the barnyard animals look for him. Sheep searches the meadow. Goose and Duck check the pond. Others pitch in, too, but Toad seems to have disappeared…until Hen hears snoring coming from the pile of hay in the back of Little Blue Truck. Although the text’s scansion is imperfect in places (adults may want to pre-read to ensure a smooth read-aloud), the bouncy meter and rhyming text nevertheless capture the energy of the search and the farmyard community’s concern for Toad’s safety, making this a solid storytime choice. Eye-catching illustrations with rich, fully saturated colors balance the right level of detail while still highlighting the animal that is the focus of each verse. By introducing one farm animal at a time, Schertle also helps the youngest readers begin to identify barnyard animals by name and understand their unique farm homes. Traditional animal sounds are part of the text, and listeners will add them to their vocabulary. It all ends with the promised hayride, bringing the tale to a joyous ending.

Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2026

ISBN: 9780063436121

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: July 20, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK AND RACER RED
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

bookshelf

ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

bookshelf

Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)