Readers riding waves of amusement will howl for more.
The latest in this early reader series finds the lupine misanthrope planning a trip.
Wolf boards a bus in the middle of the night so as not to encounter anyone. Unfortunately, the bus driver proposes a singalong, and a young boy in the back eagerly chimes in. Once at the hotel, Wolf ignores the irritatingly cheery receptionist and endures an agonizingly long elevator ride with a chipper girl before finding his room—and discovering that someone’s already in his bed! What to do? Wolf decides to nap by the pool until a bossy youngster disturbs his repose, urging him to take a swim. Wolf’s exhausted. Maybe a hike through the mountains will revive him. Uh-oh. Wolf spots the jolly hiker, an acquaintance who somehow always seems to cross paths with him. Figuring out a way to distract the hiker, Wolf sneaks past him…and just keeps going, rolling suitcase in tow. He avoids the bus filled with singing passengers and walks all the way home, where a truly glorious staycation is about to unfold. The ever-apprehensive Wolf sports red-accented tennis shoes and his usual vexed expression; his protruding eyeballs register his stress. The color-washed settings are sometimes night-dim but sometimes sunny. Just as Wolf—mostly—maintains his sangfroid, the wryly funny text never loses its understated calm, with its quick, brief sentences describing our hero’s travails as he skirts disaster. Human characters are diverse.
Readers riding waves of amusement will howl for more. (Early reader. 6-9)Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9780823457793
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Neal Porter/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025
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
Extraordinary introductory terror, beautiful to the eye and sure to delight younger horror enthusiasts.
What terrors lurk within your mouth? Jasper Rabbit knows.
“You have stumbled your way into the unknown.” The young bunny introduced in Reynolds and Brown’s Caldecott Honor–winning picture book, Creepy Carrots (2012), takes up Rod Serling’s mantle, and the fit is perfect. Mimicking an episode of The Twilight Zone, the book follows Charlie Marmot, an average kid with a penchant for the strange and unusual. He’s pleased when his tonsils become infected; maybe once they’re out he can take them to school for show and tell! That’s when bizarre things start to happen: Noises in the night. Slimy trails on his bedroom floor. And when Charlie goes in for his surgery, he’s told that the tonsils have disappeared from his throat; clearly something sinister is afoot. Those not yet ready for Goosebumps levels of horror will find this a welcome starter pack. Reynolds has perfected the tension he employed in his Creepy Tales! series, and partner in crime Brown imbues each illustration with both humor and a delicate undercurrent of dark foreshadowing. While the fleshy pink tonsils—the sole spot of color in this black-and-white world—aren’t outrageously gross, there’s something distinctly disgusting about them. And though the book stars cute, furry woodland creatures, the spooky surprise ending is 100% otherworldly—a marvelous moment of twisted logic.
Extraordinary introductory terror, beautiful to the eye and sure to delight younger horror enthusiasts. (Early chapter book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781665961080
Page Count: 88
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
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