A calm, beautifully illustrated picture book that lacks a strong narrative arc.
An alien girl finds an unexpected new friend while playing with her sister in Lamar and Liana Golden’s picture book.
On a faraway, Earth-like planet named Venesha live two young sisters: Rika, the elder, and Jari, roughly preschool-age (the girls are fair-skinned and appear human). The two love to climb trees and play hide-and-seek together in the planet’s northern forest region. One day, instead of finding her hiding sister, Rika stumbles across a kitten concealed inside of a hollow log. The kitten immediately takes to her, and the two go off in search of Jari: “Rika called out to her sister. ‘Jari, come out! Look what I found!’ Jari appeared from behind a tree. ‘Poor thing!’ she said. ‘Where is her mommy?’ ” Rika doesn’t know, so the two sisters wait for a solution to appear. This picture book is cute and quiet, best for readers who prefer a calmer story. While it establishes a central conflict, it fails to deliver a satisfying resolution that ties the narrative together as a whole, and it isn’t clear why exactly the story is set on an Earth-like planet instead of Earth itself. Guarino’s illustrations depict scenery awash in twilight blues and purples that reflect the dissociation of feeling lost and provide contrast to the characters’ warmer tones.
A calm, beautifully illustrated picture book that lacks a strong narrative arc.Pub Date: June 6, 2023
ISBN: 9781960976093
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: July 5, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Toad and Little Blue Truck get ready for a hayride.
After the titular vehicle is loaded with hay, Toad is nowhere to be found. “Beep! Beep! Beep! Where are you, Toad?” asks Little Blue Truck. All the barnyard animals look for him. Sheep searches the meadow. Goose and Duck check the pond. Others pitch in, too, but Toad seems to have disappeared…until Hen hears snoring coming from the pile of hay in the back of Little Blue Truck. Although the text’s scansion is imperfect in places (adults may want to pre-read to ensure a smooth read-aloud), the bouncy meter and rhyming text nevertheless capture the energy of the search and the farmyard community’s concern for Toad’s safety, making this a solid storytime choice. Eye-catching illustrations with rich, fully saturated colors balance the right level of detail while still highlighting the animal that is the focus of each verse. By introducing one farm animal at a time, Schertle also helps the youngest readers begin to identify barnyard animals by name and understand their unique farm homes. Traditional animal sounds are part of the text, and listeners will add them to their vocabulary. It all ends with the promised hayride, bringing the tale to a joyous ending.
Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2026
ISBN: 9780063436121
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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