An accurate and entertaining account of the pros and cons of wielding credit.
The newest addition to the wallet likes to shop till the other shoe drops.
Goldie the credit card has joined a family consisting of different kinds of money, and when she offers to bankroll an upcoming vacation, the coins and cash are thrilled. Goldie, who’s illustrated with the microchip and tap-to-pay symbol of modern credit cards, works fast! Even little Penny declares her generosity “magnifi-cent,” though Goldie has a tendency to upgrade their frugal travel plans at great cost. Bill cautions Goldie not to overspend, but she ends up maxing out her credit limit and wallowing in a sea of debt. Goldie takes responsibility and works extra hard to pay off her debt by the statement due date. She returns to the wallet to be used for planned, affordable expenses instead of luxurious splurges. The artwork fills each page with onomatopoeia as Goldie swipes and taps up a storm, along with images of the safari, cruise, and doughnuts she purchases. Constant wordplay and puns lighten the sound lessons of this personified money drama. The other wallet denizens encourage and embrace Goldie as she works toward debt relief, welcoming her back into the wallet with friendly forgiveness. Backmatter caps off the story, offering a timeline of the history of credit and charting the benefits of responsible credit card use alongside the pitfalls of excessive splurging.
An accurate and entertaining account of the pros and cons of wielding credit. (bibliography) (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781645678847
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2026
Just the thing for anyone with a Grinch-y tree of their own in the yard.
A grouchy sapling on a Christmas tree farm finds that there are better things than lights and decorations for its branches.
A Grinch among the other trees on the farm is determined never to become a sappy Christmas tree—and never to leave its spot. Its determination makes it so: It grows gnarled and twisted and needle-less. As time passes, the farm is swallowed by the suburbs. The neighborhood kids dare one another to climb the scary, grumpy-looking tree, and soon, they are using its branches for their imaginative play, the tree serving as a pirate ship, a fort, a spaceship, and a dragon. But in winter, the tree stands alone and feels bereft and lonely for the first time ever, and it can’t look away from the decorated tree inside the house next to its lot. When some parents threaten to cut the “horrible” tree down, the tree thinks, “Not now that my limbs are full of happy children,” showing how far it has come. Happily for the tree, the children won’t give up so easily, and though the tree never wished to become a Christmas tree, it’s perfectly content being a “trick or tree.” Martinez’s digital illustrations play up the humorous dichotomy between the happy, aspiring Christmas trees (and their shoppers) and the grumpy tree, and the diverse humans are satisfyingly expressive.
Just the thing for anyone with a Grinch-y tree of their own in the yard. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-7335-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
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