A serviceable introduction to monarch migration, with some bumps along the journey.
Ready for an adventure?
Young readers follow several eastern monarchs as they make a multigenerational migration across North America. The story begins with a pearl necklace–wearing butterfly laying an egg on a milkweed leaf. Soon a very ravenous caterpillar emerges, eats, grows, and begins her metamorphosis. This new protagonist sports a high-buttoned lacy collar as she travels. After a page turn, the third generation is introduced (this one in a ruffled collar), and we follow her amorous adventures until she also lays an egg, one that produces the final protagonist, complete with a lavaliere. This final butterfly travels onward, completing the circuit started by her great-grandparents. The book is narrated in a rhyme scheme that reads fairly well aloud, although the rhyming pattern fluctuates, and the thin font can be easily missed on some of the busier illustrations. The artwork, a mix of traditional and digital techniques, is attractive, though the various butterflies are differentiated only by changing neckwear designs—which may be a whisper too subtle for young readers. The changeover between generations is quick; readers who aren’t paying close attention may miss these crucial shifts. A page of backmatter offers more information on these butterflies and the dangers they face.
A serviceable introduction to monarch migration, with some bumps along the journey. (map) (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781665943420
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
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
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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