A joyful and thoughtful exploration of the world and its communities, threaded with hope for the future.
Take a tour of the cities of the world without leaving your home.
Kyo, the author’s first name, means “capital city,” and she begins and ends this story with the question: “If you were a city, / how would you be?” Each spread contains a short rhyming verse and bold illustrations of cities and diverse people as readers are taken around the world to help answer that question. Perhaps the city would be “bookish, proud, / but slightly leaning” (paired with an image of a light-skinned person standing against the Leaning Tower of Pisa) or maybe it would be “shiny, glassy, / sleek, and tall.” It could even be a new city, “a dream city,” in the imagination of architects or one that leaves “room for nest / and lair” for animals. Both words and visuals work to create positive energy, the one exception being people leaving a “broken city.” The other characters look cheerful, shown in both quiet activities like stargazing as well as “biking, / scooting, / walking,” and enjoying a nighttime wheelchair basketball game. The detailed illustrations vary—some spreads contain multiple panels with bright white borders, while others feature a single scene that bleeds to the page’s edge. The image of a brown-skinned child creating a literal safe harbor with their arms is particularly effective. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A joyful and thoughtful exploration of the world and its communities, threaded with hope for the future. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4521-5519-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A flavorful call to action sure to spur young introverts.
In this latest slice in the Food Group series, Humble Pie learns to stand up to a busy friend who’s taking advantage of his pal’s hard work on the sidelines.
Jake the Cake and Humble Pie are good friends. Where Pie is content to toil in the background, Jake happily shines in the spotlight. Alert readers will notice that Pie’s always right there, too, getting A-pluses and skiing expertly just behind—while also doing the support work that keeps every school and social project humming. “Fact: Nobody notices pie when there’s cake nearby!” When the two friends pair up for a science project, things begin well. But when the overcommitted Jake makes excuse after excuse, showing up late or not at all, a panicked Pie realizes that they won’t finish in time. When Jake finally shows up on the night before the project’s due, Pie courageously confronts him. “And for once, I wasn’t going to sugarcoat it.” The friends talk it out and collaborate through the night for the project’s successful presentation in class the next day. John and Oswald’s winning recipe—plentiful puns and delightful visual jokes—has yielded another treat here. The narration does skew didactic as it wraps up: “There’s nothing wrong with having a tough conversation, asking for help, or making sure you’re being treated fairly.” But it’s all good fun, in service of some gentle lessons about social-emotional development.
A flavorful call to action sure to spur young introverts. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780063469730
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A silly snack guaranteed to satisfy the funny bone; kids will eat it up and ask for more.
In this droll tale, ostensibly straightforward instructions are a recipe for absurdity.
To obtain the two slices of bread that a jelly sandwich calls for, a brown-skinned youngster named Frankie instructs readers to head to the store. But NOT to the bakery aisle! Instead, buy “one orange [traffic] cone, scuba flippers, and a yellow inner tube.” Using those items to fashion a duck disguise, you’ll score the bread from a brown-skinned elder feeding wildfowl in the park. And if the ducks see through your pretense, you might have to practice your “quack-cent.” Similar maneuvers are required to open the jelly jar: You’ll need peanuts, a playground with a “whirly-go-round,” and an elephant with a strong trunk grip. (But if the jar is carelessly opened upside down, you’ll get a “jellyphant.”) To spread the jelly, you must first scrub a dog in your bathtub. (Dip the clean tail in the jelly, then pet and praise the dog until it happily wags its tail over the bread slices.) Putting the slices together requires a knightly tournament, but cutting the sandwich, “the least complicated step of all,” involves training a hamster to ride a unicycle. The final pages propose an alternative (but just as outrageous) method and invite readers to think up their own ridiculous techniques. Burach’s scenarios are inventive and hilarious, while his exaggerated cartoon illustrations reinforce the delicious jokiness each step of the way.
A silly snack guaranteed to satisfy the funny bone; kids will eat it up and ask for more. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 21, 2026
ISBN: 9781338877090
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
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