An uplifting, well-illustrated adventure full of whimsy and joy.
Ellis’ charming debut picture book, written in rhyming couplets, tells a story of how fireflies discover their light.
It all begins on a stormy night, during which the first fireflies discover their inner glow after being struck by lightning. As the cloudburst dissipates, their lights begin to fade, but Firefly Fran still shines bright and is delighted at how she “sparkle[s] with pizazz.” She tries to raise her fellow fireflies’ spirits with positivity and uplifting words, but they refuse to listen, which makes her sad. When Fran is captured by human children, her wing tears and she can’t fly. In her jar, Fran meets a spider in despair because her web has been destroyed. Working together, the spider and the firefly help fix each other’s problems. Fran flies to what she thinks is “Thunder Thicket,” but is actually Watts Way, and witnesses an amazing spectacle of light as other fireflies find their inner lights again. They learn that lightning doesn’t give them their light: “It’s JOY that makes us glow!” Over the course of this illustrated book, Ellis presents a delightful tale that will entertain young readers. The rhyming pattern’s predictability will assist lap readers, and the colorful descriptive language will provide new terms (“while lolling in the dusky dark”; “a shimmer over soft green grass”). Talbott’s illustrations are consistently engaging, full of light, and filled with fantasy as they follow Fran on her adventures. The human characters are portrayed with a range of skin tones; the fireflies have big eyes and expressive, cartoonish features. The artist also effectively makes the lightning shine and fireflies sparkle.
An uplifting, well-illustrated adventure full of whimsy and joy.Pub Date: March 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781684018086
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Mascot Kids
Review Posted Online: Dec. 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming tale of an athlete who may not steal any bases but who will certainly steal readers’ hearts.
Ohtani, pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, teams up with Blank and Liem to tell the story of how his dog, Decoy, threw out a ceremonial first pitch.
It’s a big day! Decoy leaps “off the bed. Then back onto the bed. Then off the bed.” The enthusiastic pup heads outside to practice with his lucky baseball but is quickly distracted by squirrels (“we’ll play later!”), airplanes (“flyin’ high!”), and flowers (“smell ya soon!”). Dog and pitcher then head to the ballpark. In the locker room, Decoy high-paws Shohei’s teammates. It’s nearly time! But as Shohei prepares to warm up, Decoy realizes that he’s forgotten something important: his lucky ball. Without it, there will be “no championships, no parades, and no hot dogs!” Back home he goes, returning just in time. With Shohei at the plate, Decoy runs from the mound to his owner, rolling the ball into Shohei’s mitt for a “Striiiiike!” Related from a dog’s point of view, Ohtani and Blank’s energetic text lends the tale a sense of urgency and suspense. Liem’s illustrations capture the excitement of the first day of baseball season and the joys of locker room camaraderie, as well as Shohei and Decoy’s mutual affection—even when the ball is drenched in slobber, Shohei’s love for his pet shines through, and clearly, Decoy is focused when it matters.
A charming tale of an athlete who may not steal any bases but who will certainly steal readers’ hearts. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9780063460775
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
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